Shadowhawk100 said:I will probably take your advice on visiting a local bike shop but my primary concern with that is the carbon fork thing. The website and several forums have endowed high praise for their bikes having them and it seems that other (local stores) cost about $400-$600 more for just that feature. Once again, I'm an amateur... does that really make a big difference. Should I go to the LBS and single out bikes that have this and note their cost? Is it worth it?
The CF fork is more fashion and marketing than something that excels in any particular quality. As with frames, the material is far less important than the design and construction. There are [censored] carbon forks and good ones, as is the case with steel. In general, carbon fiber is good at damping high frequency vibrations, but "high frequency" is a non-specific term. It all depends on the fork geometry, construction, type of CF matte, density of CF threads in matte, direction of threads in matte and change direction between plies of CF, resin thickness, resin in general.......and so on. It's entirely possible that you could end up with a fork that damps vibrations only with frequencies much higher than you could even sense. It's also possible that same fork could have a lousy response to low and mid-range frequencies.
Your primary concern should be the fit of the bicycle, as well as how good it looks to you. If the bike doesn't fit well, you'll be uncomfortable; it'll be more difficult to ride; it could result in injury; and in general it'll kill your motivation to ride. The bikes looks? Well, we all get wound up when we get a new bike, and some get wound up every time they think about riding that bike. You can, however, grow to love an ugly bike, but you really can't improve a bike that doesn't fit.
The Mercier does seem to be built with a little bit more spirited riding in mind.
Before you make any decision, I suggest you use either the fit calculator at Competitive Cyclist or the one at Wrench Science to see what they suggest in terms of bike fit. Note that one or the other...or both...will give fit in terms of top tube length, maybe head tube length, maybe stand over, maybe other dimensions. Top tube length is the one that'll help you the most, right now. It'll help keep your search simple.
