The Search for a Road Bike...

The search has been going on for a couple of months now, my quest to find a reasonably priced road bike for this race season.  I keep second guessing my decision to enter into the world of bike racing due to hearing about crashes in crit races, the costs of getting a tricked out bike, and the fact that I'm just getting into it being on the wrong side of 30.  However, I can't deny myself my passion for biking though, so I must continue on!  I started in triathlon to try out something new and push myself to do other activities besides drinking gin and tonics and working on my biceps.  During the process I fell in love with the competition aspects of the sport and like golf there is always room for improvement.  I also discovered my love for biking.  It's weird how much I like biking (outside not on a trainer), it's a feeling or a connection of me, my bike, and all my surroundings.  I know it sounds funny but to me it's therapeutic, just biking out in the country roads and climbing steep hills is my idea of serenity.  

Here's my wants in a road bike:  Carbon Frame, minimum shimano 105 components or better, and looks flippin sweet.  I originally set a $2k budget but that doesn't seem to by much at all and believe me I looked at just about every bike I could buy at a local lbs or on-line.  I even considered piecing a bike together by buying a Chinese made frame and piecing it together then I kept envisioning myself wiping out.  Even after all my searching I still found that $2k wasn't enough!  Here's the top contenders. 

Cannondale Super Six with 105 Groupo
Trek Madone 4.5
Felt F5
Bianchi Something ala Italian

Then I considered aluminum with better components.  Aluminum gets a bad wrap due to the technology advances of carbon fiber but, aluminum has advanced as well but consumer demand had driven most manufacturers towards higher end carbon fiber and almost eliminating that guy on a budget.  The two top contenders in this category were the new Cannondale Caad 10, and the Bianchi Via Narone.  Both very nice bikes and could do what I need but I think I have fallen into the I need carbon realm.  Price points on those two models are at $1300 with Shimano 105 and some heavy ass wheels. 

So where did I end up?  I'm not there 100% yet but a friend of mine might sell me his slightly used Orbea Orca, which is a size 54 which I'm a little worried about the fit being as I'm 5'6 and 1/2 tall.  My Time trial set up see pics is a size 51 and I'm trump tight on it.  Meaning I'm pretty compact on the frame and have maximized the size of the bike.  I hear road bikes you have to size up a bit so maybe I'm just analyzing this too much but 6 months down the road I don't want to feel like I'm stretched out on the bike.  So I'll sleep on it and keep updates here!