(cont)
I rec the following:
>56 or 58 cm road bike depending on your leg length and personal comfort.>with 28mm tires riding on 700c wheels>tires with puncture protection lining of kevlar (I like Serfas Secas with FPS approx 25 each)>using the new claris 2x8 (50/34) groupset up front>rolling on a 11-32 in the back (the bigger the second number the easier it is to climb hills, the smaller the first number the faster you'll go on flats and downhills)Now you can spend 750 or so on a bianci entry level Via Narone or a giant entry level Defy or whatever from a major manufacturer with the above specs.
OR you can save approx $200 and buy a no-name/old bankrupt classic name sold by a company who sells bikes direct to consumer. those places are performancebike, bikeexchange, wiggle, chainreactioncycles, nashbar.
For example here is a Vitus Razor, $509. Vitus was a classic old English name that went bankrupt and got bought by a big direct-to-consumer company.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/us/en/vitus-razor-road-bike-2018/rp-prod159732It doesn't have the 11-32 in back only an 11-28 but you are in the flatland you'll never really need to use it.
You can easily go on CL and buy a used bike too but in the end you are only going to save a couple hundred bucks and unless you go to someone who knows what they are doing you'll end up having to fix stuff. Lots of rich people with bikes they never ride, so check CL before you buy.
