would love to give road biking a go and am going to demo some bikes. suggestions please for bikes to try - between £800 - £1000 and what sort of things should i be looking for! folks on here know that i know nothing about road bikes. guess i will have to learn to do a right hand signal

I reckon you get a lot for your money with the wsd Giant SCR range. I've got the 1.5 which is the top of the range of 3. Retails at £650.

Things to consider are:

triple or compact - rings. You have lower gears with a triple. If you are very strong in the legs perhaps a compact, but personally I think a triple is def better esp in Peaks and def to start with, if not for ever! Worth trying them both I guess if you can.

Gears spec - tiagra is the better spec and operates slightly different to the lower spec Sora. Try them both.

That's all I know about specs on road bikes

The main thing to consider is the size I guess.(well, apart from the colour of course!) Oh, and the wsd have smaller reach on the brakes. These aren't adjustable like they are on mtb's.

Enjoy.... Looking forward to our roadie outings (they have mandatory tea shop stops!!)

i know nothing bout road bikes but i've heard the specialised dolce's are good starter bikes?

They sell them at je james so you could have a test run easily?

wish i could join you both on the dark side, but i'd get splatted with my dodgy eye! 

Hi

 I've just bought a new road bike and i absolutely love it (it's a Kona Zing). 

Here's my newfound knowledge- hope it helps...

 The thing I'm finding is that my old one was too big for me - which meant i was always a bit wobbly (especially with right hand signals) but i never realised that was the bike and not just me.  My new bike is really comfortable.  When I bought my old one they made me look down over the handlebars and said it was only a good fit if you can't see the hub - but it depends on the lengths of your arms etc.  I can see the hub on my new one but it feels great.  And it's so much lighter than my old bike (went from a £500 bike to £900).  I've got shimano 105 - which i think is a grade up from tiagra - but not sure I know the difference here.  I'm also just getting used to two rings at the front instead of three.  I'm quite a good climber (but you must be too if you survived the merida)   I don't think having two rings has made it harder for me... though it is hard to get used to.

hope this is useful!  enjoy your shopping