I am still having that discussion in my head - what about a road bike. The one road bike I did try, the ALP Fairfax wasn't as comfortable as the Larkspur. It was comfortable - it just didn't feel as good as the other. It didn't have drops - it has flat handlebars with what I think are bar-ends.

The Larkspur has 700 X 35c tires which are slightly narrower than the tires on my Mongoose but otherwise the same size. I don't think anything I've tried yet had 26" wheels so maybe that is the next thing to try. I think I have made up my mind, but I still have at least one more LBS to check out.

Right now I'm not a terribly strong cyclist. I don't go very fast and I'm not comfortable with speed as it is. I'd like to pick up my average MPH a bit so that I can go further in less time. I think if not for speed on hills my average speed is probably about 11-12 MPH (the 14 includes downhills) Will the bike itself really make a difference in how fast I can go when I'm not that good to begin with? I wonder between the two bikes I tried that I really liked there is going to be a noticeable difference for me to make it worth spending the extra money as the Alp costs more.