Originally Posted by StephenH

If you're not in a hurry, probably best time to buy locally is end of summer and after Christmas.


Some of the guys I have ridden with, have ridden gazillions of miles. And they're all shopping for newer better bikes. The moral being, that you're not going to find the "perfect" bike such that you never need another one. So on a lot of the decisions you could make, don't feel like there's only one right answer; at some point, you've got to pull the trigger and find out for yourself.


"Which brand is better"- there's a hundred choices. If you have numerous bike shops in your area, that's a problem. If you have ONE shop only, or one that you especially like, check which brands they sell (and stock!) and that'll narrow your choices down tremendously. Otherwise, it's easy to wind up with "paralysis by analysis", trying to figure out if saving 4 ounces with Brand X is worth $20 more on the cost, and on and on.


While you're working on the road bike, check if there's an obvious upgrade (in terms of rolling resistance) for your current tires.


When I first got my first drop-bar bike, I couldn't ride in the drops very much due to having too much gut in the way (but I lost more weight and that fixed itself.) The first time or two I rode the new lower handlebars, I had some minor back twinges, but that went away pretty quick. So there's some adjusting involved, but not too bad.


My personal preference- find a local shop and buy a bike there.

On the original statement- "I want to go further, but getting frustrated... "- By all means get a newer better faster bike if you want to, but that's not a requirement to go farther. My first 200k and first five century rides were on a Worksman cruiser.