Giant Rapid/Defy advice

Mark__gti

Origionally i was looking to get a mountain bike for abit of off road fun and the occasional commuting but i seem to be changing my mind and im looking to get a road bike so i can cummute more often (trying to get fitter)
i have a budget of around £400 - £500 and was thinking of getting a Giant Rapid 4 2010 as iv never been on a road bike befor and im not sure how i will get on with drop bars
http://www.ashcycles.com/site/index.php ... anguage=en
or should i just man up and try out a Defy 3.5
http://www.ashcycles.com/site/index.php ... anguage=en
my ride to work is approx 8 miles
Any advise would be great

cyclingpast

Search around. I bought a Defy 3 2010 in January for £450, and that was from one of my LBS. You can get more for your money than you think if you look hard enough. And the Defy 3 is definitely worth the extra money you'd fork out over the Defy 4- I had one of those too!

Edit to add: Go with the drops, you won't regret it. I'd never ridden drops before October and I can't imagine riding the 9 miles to work on flat bars now.