Search the Community

Hello! I am looking into a new (or used) road bike. I currently own a 15+ year old mountain bike, and I've used it the past two summers to commute to work 1x/week (14 miles each way, all paved). My main objective in buying a road bike is to make my commute time shorter and less draining so that I can bump it up to 2x or 3x/week this summer. I went in to a LBS and they had me demo a Specialized Dolce (the base model). I had never ridden a road bike before, so it will take some getting used to, but I didn't find it too terribly different/awkward. However, I would like to spend less on it as we've been trying to really focus on our budget in th past 6 months. A few questions for the knowledgable scouts here at NF: 1) What are your opinions on buying a used road bike? 2) Do I need to look only at women's road bikes? I am 5'7'' 3) Is it worth it to drive around to a bunch of different bike shops that carry different brands (Giant, Trek, Schwinn, etc)? The one I went to only carries Specialized and some Raleigh. Will the prices on entry level bikes vary greatly between brands? The quality? The Specialized Dolce I demoed was $769. 4) Any other advice for me as I continue researching? I would like to purchase in the next couple weeks; do have some time because it's still pretty chilly here but once it's nice out I'd like to get riding asap . Thanks in advance for your insights!