which should I test ride ?
 

I'd like to buy a road bike for riding nearly every day for about 3 hours and do some racing too. I have a little trouble with my back when riding my mountainbike, would my back get worse on a road bike ? I want to ride it for a couple of years with ultegra components and spend 2500 - 3000$, so which road bikes should I test ride ?

Bascially....everything you can.

You restrictions narrow your choices down somewhat, as probably does your size. So I would say ride everything you can that meets your requirements and even some that don't. Check out every local bike shop around and of course you can bug friends to try out their bikes also.

"Bascially....everything you can."


I second this.

pick what fits you best and the bike shop will do the rest.

What ever you test ride, be sure to test ride a Specialized Roubaix - you will probably stop your testing and buy it.

Three hours every day? Nice.

Ride everything that isn't bolted down! That's what I did. Oddly, the bike I now own was one of the ones I test rode very early on in my search, and the very day I rode it, I was thinking, "Man, I could see myself putting an obscene number of miles on this bike," but I felt at the time that it was out of my price range. However, as I continued riding other bikes throughout the next month, I kept mentally comparing them against the bike I now have. Eventually I went back to the shop, re-rode the three most likely bikes there, and decided that yes, my first impression of this bike was correct, and that maybe I should just go ahead and plunder my savings account, which I subsequently did.

Get measured first by a reputable pro in your area.

Whatever you do don't buy the bike at a LBS. Buy all the parts on Ebay and www.probikekit.com. At the end you can easily have a $4000,00 bike and only spend $2000.00.