I am 5'6", 180lbs and want to get into cycling for fitness and future competition. I have no idea where to start looking for a good entry level bike that has some 'upgrade-ability'. I have looked a bit at a Motobecane, but have no idea what I need. Any ideas are welcome.

How much are you willing to spend on a bike?

Under 600 if possible.

https://www.bianchiusa.com/site/bikes/21_Brava.html

This is a little more than 600. but you may be able to find it on sale this time of year. Bianchis are as good as it gets at any price level.

A good book about cycling from your library or bike shop will also be helpful.

A book that will teach you all about competition from A-Z is Serious Cycling by Ed Burke.

All the best! Feel free to ask questions here. You'll always get lots of answers.

Try as many bikes as possible. That Bianchi mentioned above looks to be a really nice bike. Somehow you just can't go too wrong with a Bianchi. Other bikes in this price range (~US$600) you might want to check out include:

• Jamis Aurora
• Specialized Allez 24
• Trek 1000
• Trek 1000C (comfort version of 1000)
• Giant OCR3
• Fuji Finest
• KHS Flite 300
• K2 Mach 1.0
• LeMond Nevada City - although this bike is a bit more than your budget, you may be able to find one on sale or clearance/closeout. I felt that it's a pretty nice riding steel frame for its price and had to be mentioned.

nobody bothered to ask thetray what kinda bike he/she was looking to get. how do y'all know for sure they want a road bike??

Doh! We were waiting for you to do that.

Test ride test ride test ride

You mean there is something other than a road bike???

Find someone who knows bikes to help you get a used bike. For $600 you could get something that was $1200 new, two years ago.

Don't worry about upgradeability. When you want to upgrade, get a whole new bike. It's about half as expensive to buy parts together on a bike than piecemeal.

As bbarend says, ride as many bikes as you can to get a feel for what you like. If you give some more details about what you like in a bike, you'll get some more suggestions of particular models to try.

Good luck!

Yes, do you need to commute/shop or tour on the bike? Will you be riding in wet winter as well as summer?
There is a wide spectrum of "road bikes" from competition racer, to unladen fast tourer, winter training bike, commuter hack/beater bike, cyclo-cross, medium/club touring, to full loaded expedition bike.
They vary in their tyre clearance, facility to add fenders and luggage rack, gear ratios, and some other details.

Thank you all for the great info and starting points! Luckily there are a bunch of shops around here, so I'm off to start looking. Thanks again!