New bike

I took Friday off from work so I could hit the bike stores minus the crowds.  Friday morning I ended up at Gear Works and I was asked my budget and quickly shown the Cannondale CAAD 10 and Specialized Dolce they also carry Trek bikes, but did not have the Lexa SLX which is comparable. The store is located on a pretty busy street and they don’t let you ride the bikes, unless you are interested in a cheap one. After talking to people about bike shopping their advice was to ride as many bikes as possible, needless to say I was very upset when I got to the first store and they were well reviewed online, yet I couldn’t even take it for a spin. After two hours there trying to get a feel for the bikes on the trainer I had too much info to process so I went to lunch. At lunch I called a couple other bike shops and it seems you are basically suppose to know what brand you want before you even get there.  One store carried Giant bikes, but only special order so I would have to know I wanted it without seeing or riding it. I ended up driving to New Hampshire and going to EMS because they carried different brands then the local bike shops do.  I tried a Felt and a Jamis, and this time I got to ride it around the lot and behind the building.  They did adjustments to the bike as I was riding it and checked it out for sizing.  In the end it was a choice between a CAAD 10 or the Felt ZW75 and I ended up going with the Felt. It also helped that it was $300 cheaper than the CAAD and the fact that I can have it serviced at the EMS close to home. Here is a photo: