consumer reports brotha bika (rob)

I'm thinking of getting a road bike. So far I've only really gotten into mountain biking, but I'm considering a road bike and training for a 150 mile (75 mile * 2 days) ride next year. I can't say I'm super crazy about road riding when comparing it to the trail, but I do like the endurance appeal of it and it's also far less weather dependent than trail riding.

So......what are good bikes to be on the lookout for? I haven't set a budget yet, but obviously the cheaper the better. I'm willing to consider new and used bikes. I'd probably set a hard cap at $2500 for now since I'm not sure I'll really dig the road.

I know you may not be able to give me excessive advice on the used market, but any tips on recent models to be wary of or to try to find would be helpful.

Thanks in advance.

b