I'll have a look around and do some more research. There are a lot of options. It should be noted that I haven't ridden a bike in probably a good 10 years or so.
Fortunately I'm not too unfit - so it won't kill me to just start again.
Yeah i hadn't been on a bike in around two years, but I am a runner and want to extend that into triathlons and so I needed to get a bike for that.
I have put around 25 miles on it in the three times I have ridden it(Fri, Sat, Sun). Its amazing Cincinnati was like 50degrees on Friday and Saturday.
I settled on my Trek 1.5 for a couple reasons.
1) There is a awesome Trek store about two miles from my house, and no other bike stores real close.
2) The Trek Store includes free maintenance for just about everything but major repairs- tune ups, etc.
3) Shopping at other bike stores was to difficult as there were so many brands and models to choose from, whereas at the trek store I really only had to choose from three models in my price range. Fever choices is better.
4) Trek is a quality brand that has a good reputation and makes a good product.
5) The 1.5 is a $1,000 bike at my local Trek store, that sells at most stores for $1,100 but I got it for $900.00 on a christmas sale. It is not a top of the line carbon bike or anything but having two and a half years of college left before me I decided to buy a good bike and use it for a few years and then go to a much higher price level ($3-4000) when I have a real job once out of college.