Advice on buying a bike for the first time

Hi,
I'm buying a new road bike but know pretty much nothing about them. There's a good, specialist bike shop near where I live and they seem to have very good value.
Basically, it boils down to a choice between two bikes.
One is a steel-framed Olmo, with Shimano 600 brakes and a Sora groupset. It costs €440 (reduced from €700), which seems like great value.
The other is an aluminium Dawes with only the basic Shimano groupset and brakes. This costs €460.

I think the guy in the shop wasn't too keen on selling the me the Olmo because it would mean transferring all the gear to a smaller frame, whereas the Dawes is ready to go. He told me that I didn't really want a steel frame because no one uses them anymore.

There were also some Giant bikes, with aluminium frames and good quality brakes and groupsets. These cost about €600. Is it worth it to pay the extra bit to get the best of worlds?

I've read the sticky thread on advice on buying a new bike for beginners, but was hoping someone could give me some advice on this particular choice that I have.

Also, how do I measure myself for frame size, the guy in the shop was a little vague about it all. Also, sorry if some of my terminology is a bit flakey!

Thanks!
Niall.

The part about steel is just hooey. There are fit calculators at wrenchscience,colorado cyclist,excelsports,and anvilbikes,among ohters.Keep in mind they are only guidelines that get you in the ball park,and that bike frames are measured different ways by different makers.

Niall,
If the guy in the shop was vague on sizing and making ignorant comments about steel framesets then I'd suggest not talking with that sales critter anymore. Find a different shop or a different clerk.

Also not sure where in the world you're located so have no way to know what might be available locally to you. I'll just pass on a little input I've given others, and I'm no expert, just a long time rider getting back into the sport of cycling.

1. First decide how you'll be using the bike. Commuter, weekend rider, touring, long or short distance, on pavement, off pavement, hard packed non-paved bike trails or bikepaths, are you big or heavy or small or petite?
2. What price range do you want to spend within. Consider this from the viewpoint that you may not like cycling and will then have a wall hanger. Also consider that you may very well really like cycling and will want to upgrade the bike very soon, again leading to a potential wall hanger. Additionally you may like cycling and may want to stay with the first bike you buy for a long time. So you want the best bike you can with the most decent components that is within your budget. Here in the U.S. it is possible to find a bike in the $250-$350 range, functional for a beginner, suitable for an intermediate rider/cyclist, and built well enough to last and to be repairable at a decent shop. Some of the $100 bikes are relatively cheap but are not meant to be worked on.

Once you have some answers and parameters you'll be able to quickly eliminate 75% of the bikes in a shop from your consideration.

I am interested in buying my first road bike for riding mostly on paved bike trails and distance riding.

I am a 42 yr old male in moderate physical shape. I live in West Los Angeles and recently visited my first bike store. They recommended the Giant OCR 3 Road Bike.

I felt uncomfortable with the high seat but was told that good road bike are designed that way. I test rode the bike and like the speed and lightness.

Any recommendations or suggestions..??

There are "good" road racing bikes and "good" touring bikes. The relative seat height to handlebar height will vary between the two and both can still be "good".

Never buy after visiting just one store, visit as many stores as you can until you find one that answers your questions to your satisfaction, and until you find one that wants to sell you a bike to fit your personal needs and requirements and not some biased notion of their own.

There are a lot of good shops in the greater LosAngeles and Orange county region, or at least there used to be when I lived there 12 years ago.

Giant makes a nice bike, provided it is what you need.

As someone else posted, visit other bike shops and see what they have to offer. Also, see what kind of service plans they offer and for how long they have been in business. I just bought my bike from a shop that has been around for 44 years and they offer free lifetime tuneups on the bikes. Other shops said they would tuneup the bike the first 30 days and then charge me. so defffinetly try other shops and ask questions. Usually the shops with the most helpful people(even to us who dont want to spend the big bucks) are the ones you wanna stick with!!!