Dude, don't listen to these guys bitch at each other about customs or not. I was in your shoes beginning of this past summer, so check this out.fasterTHANyou said:
I stumbled across a De Rosa Merak (Al tubes) that's been sitting on someone's wall for a year or two and he just wanted to get rid of it. It was basically brand new w/ about 200 miles on it and I picked it up for about $750.00. Very fortunate for me as I've always wanted one (have wanted a road bike for years). I built it w/ top notch parts, but not of the current year (Mavic Ksyrium w/o the cutouts on the rim), 9 spd DA w/ double instead of triple and some carbon parts from one generation back.
As for the ride, since I had no basis for comparison, this is the best road bike I've ridden to date for any duration (cause it's mine). My point here is you'll get use to whatever you pick up as your first ride. The De Rosa is a bit on the stiff side, but I'm used to riding stiff bikes from my MTB days on a Klein.
As for choice of frame material, I know what different materials ride like from my dirt days, cheap steel and Al to expensive steel and Al and carbon and Ti. That IF you threw you leg over is a very good steel bike and it's a safe bet to go with that, or some other good steel tube hand built frame (but not custom). As you get into it more, you'll prob want to swap frames around w/ different material. However, if you don't plan on racing, you'll prob come back to steel (this is not me being a retro grouch.) Because minus a very slight weight penalty, steel has just about the ideal amount of flex, stiffness, and vibration absorption to make road biking very comfortable. Ti takes away the weight penalty, but brings a bit more flex and cost into the equation. When I fry the De Rosa, I'll be going steel (prob an IF Crown).
So my point w/ all this is, unless your a midget or Paul Bunion, a standard off the shelf geo bike will do just fine for your first roadie. Talk to a few custom guys to see what they'd recommend for (steel) tubes with your build/weight (stay away from the ultra lite ones if you're over 170#) and riding style (hi rpm and smooth or low rpm hammerhead first time roadie tend to fall into the second group unless you've been training to spin smooth) and have a hand built but not custom steel frame made for you. This is not very expensive as I was looking at steel before I stumbled across that De Rosa. You'll be looking at something between $800 to $1300 ranges w/ a one-color paint job (but can get higher depending on the builder). Then hang good parts on the frame because the reliability factor is HUGE and keeps you from fussing w/ the damn thing and on the road (mtn biking experience). Also, good parts last and you can transfer it to other frames when you try different materials. As a first bike, Ultegra will work just fine. But if you can find a cheap DA 9 group because someone wants to upgrade to the 10, jump on it. As for wheels, get a nice set like my one-generation old Mavic Ksyriums so you don't have to fuss w/ it too often. And after all this, just go log miles. You'll figure out what you like w/ some miles under you. But steel is a very good place to start for performance, comfort and cost. And handbuilt quality is arguably better than mass production.
Edit:
I'm 180# on a Cove Handjob (mtn bike) made w/ Nivachrome tear drop shaped tubeset. It's sooo forgiving, but maybe partially due to the 'Shore geo it's built with. Check Dean/Ionic, De Salvo, Hammerhead, Steelman, Anvil, Kish, IF, Soulcraft, IRD. Also, I recently saw an Italian company called GIOS that's makes a SWEET lugged steel frame (www.gios.it - find the CompactPRO). I don't know how much this frame is tho.
