The best bang for your buck in road bikes are the trek carbon series. The trek 5200 (seen below) is the one I picked up last year, it was going for 3500CAD which is ~2100USD (i got it as a bonus though).
Now you might be saying "dude its trek, i want a euro bike" and I would tell you, sure b you can get a euro bike but it wont be 18lbs for that money. This bike rides like a pure breed and hey, lance rides on the same frame (carbon goes from 120 to 110 for lances bike - lance rides on a 5900).
Quote:
FRAME OCLV® 120 Carbon is unusually light, strong, and fast. Pro Race Geometry improves handling. The same stock frame ridden by the USPS team in the Tour de France.
FORK Bontrager Race Lite. OCLV 110 Carbon is light, responsive, and silences road vibration.
WHEELS Bontrager Race Lite combines sleek aerodynamics and lateral rigidity for fast, durable performance.
COMPONENTS Shimano Ultegra crank and 9-speed shifting. Double or triple chainring.
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The great thing about this bike is it has the best warrenty on the market and comes decked out to do just about anything. You want to do crits on it, go for it. Thinking about some centries, hey this bike will do it. One thing I would recommend you do and thats get a fiting. Up here they run about $80-200CAD and what happens is (at least at my shop) you spend an hour on a "fit bike" working through different sizes, angles, etc etc. The goal is to figure out what set up you need on the bike without buying two different bikes because the first one was wrong.
Now if you are a serous mt.biker then you might be able to get away with out a fitting but I would still go for it. I have the benifit of a pro shop behind me and I've swapped many parts as I've gone from an -upright riding style- to a lower roadie style. B something else to remember is you most likely wont be able to test ride alot of these bikes because of the cost of teh bike and the fact a road bike is custom fit to its rider, so a stock bike never fits right.
Now you dont have to get a trek, but you'll be hard pressed to find a better bike for 2100USD (might even be able to pick up last years for 1999). If you have any questions about my recommendation talk to poleman, I told him what to get and I'm under the impression he still loves it.
Something to consider, you'll need to buy the following:
new helmet
new shoes
pedals (they do NOT come with the bike)
shorts
jersey
Now
www.labicicletta.com cannot sell you a trek bike via the web so you will have to look into a local shop. Check the prices listed on that site so you have an idea of the pricing. These prices are some of the best in North American (fyi), so if the sales guy sales will throw in a helmet for $XXX and labicicletta sells if for less say no thanks and call us and we'll hook you up for a smashing good price.
Glad to see your getting into road riding, you'll love the speed. TRUST ME mountain biking will never be the same!