Hello - I am a former competitive cyclist, now clean and sober x16-18 years. Spent that time commuting on old British beasts, experimenting with recumbents and other unsavory things. I am now months into a relapse and the ol 82 Motobecane is not getting the job done. Tuning, new ratios, new brakes, new saddle made it more pleasant to ride but that's all. Time for a NEW BIKE. The good news: I can afford a New Bike. Bad news: I can only now (and I need it now) afford an entry level NEW BIKE. My budget is 600-900. Ugggh. So, I have checked out all the usual suspects - Raleigh Ravenio and Specialized Allez base are decent bikes. After being gone so long, I am surprised how accessible very light, stiff framesets are these days, so that's good. However, [THIS IS MY SPECIFIC QUESTION] - all the bikes I have looked at would require some mild mods to have what I consider a proper road geometry (they are all too upright). Is there any road bike sold at the above price point (that can be bought from a bicycle shop with test rides, not out of someone's basement in texas) that actually anticipates the existence of somebody who WANTS a real road bike, knows how to ride said bike, but simply doesn't have a lot of money? And don't say used. I bought a gorgeous used Bianchi with full Campy and it was wrecked. My wife blames it on downtube shifters, I blame it on the drunk idiot who ran me over. In any case, used is off the books and the settlement from above-mentioned driver will buy above bike. So which of the two would you recommend? Or others? Keeping in mind my ship is likely to come in in 2-3 years, so whichever might be better at converting to a light-to-medium duty touring rig (I would think the Raleigh) might win the day, since that's I would probably do with it once able to satisfy myself buying one of these light, stiff, aerodynamic, responsive, helium-filled carbon miracles they currently call "bicycles." Speaking of which, it's never too early to start planning - something light, stiff but still aero - standard set-up suitable for use in a group race or alone (ie not a TT or tri bike) - I am looking at Scott, Cervelo, Specialized. Other ideas?
THX