Need help picking a road bike?

There are a lot of great bikes out there, but not all that many good bike shops. If you have had good service from your Specialized dealer, perhaps you should stick with them. Really, the shop you deal with is more important than the brand of bike. A good shop will listen to what you want to do with your bike and guide you to the bike you need. Touring and racing are very different, if you buy a bike with racing in mind, it won't work for touring, you will need your Sirrus for that. Its fine to buy a bike for the looks, but the fit and the way it handles are much more important. Take me, I have 2 great road bikes. The one that looks better to me is ridden less often than the one whose looks I like less because that one fits me better and feels like it is part of me when I ride it. Make sure you try out the bikes you are thinking about buying, and I don't mean a spin around a parking lot, really try them.