road bike question
 

I ONLY ride on paved bike paths, and occasionally on the road. I currently own a trek 4300 alpha that now has 26x1 road tires. This bike is ok, but I run out of gear when I get around 23mph.

What im looking for is suggestions on a road bike that is in the 500-800 dollar range. I am 5'9, 190lbs.

I apologize if I don't use correct terminology, im definitely a noob when it comes to discussing bicycling.

Keep it in the family.

Trek 1.1 ($600)is what you'd benefit from. Don't upgrade it
(except maybe for saddle which you can take to your next bike).
Then, when you outgrow it, you spend bigger bucks (between
$1000-$2000) on a 105/Rival bike if you like the sport enough.

^^ This. Or save the extra few dollars and go trek 1.2. Little bit better parts for not a huge price difference.

Those are two great options, as you already know Trek does a good job with the entry level stuff. Go test ride them and see what you think, there are a lot of bikes in that price range and it boils down to what feels best to you.

How about just changing the gearing?