Starting in November, I started spinning at my local athletic club. Before doing this, I was a hardcore runner. However, those days are long gone due to too many injuies (acl pain).

Right now, my regime is as follows:
sunday - 1hr
monday - 1.5 hr
tuesday - 50mins
wed - 50mins
thursday - 1.5 hr

Once the weather gets nice i will be riding outdoors (with a local bike club) + entering in races.

So, with that in mind - I need to purchase a road bike. I was thinking mid-level to start with ($1000-$1500).

Any suggestions?

I commute on a Trek XO-1 cyclocross, which is kind of like a road bike. I've got road tires on it, but it's a bit more rugged than a road bike, which is great for pot holes, curbs, etc...

You'll find a lot of help in the forums here.

Not a road cyclist, I use an mtb for my commute.

fp

Check out the latest issue of Bicycling magazine... it's their buyer guide issue and would have lots of bikes in your price range.

Good suggestion.

Good timing! The quality / features of sub-$1200 road bikes has gone through the roof in the last few years. Frames got CHEAP, and so they spend the $ on components, so now a thousand dollar Trek roady comes with nice stuff on it.

cool...i will keep you guys posted with what i buy.

That's good and all, but seriously.....your avatar looks like my dentist.

damn dude....i would find a new dentist STAT!

Yeah, it's starting to concern me now.

I don't know if I'd go Trek at that price point. I mean, I've enjoyed Trek bikes, but it seems like they've gotten sloppy in the past 2 years since expanding.

Look at Canondales as well. Really, what it comes down to is what brands do the bike shops around you sell. I wouldn't order offline, as without prior bike knowledge assembaly is a bitch. Right now is actually a really bad time to buy a new bike(aka a 2006) one. Maybe you can find some closeout 2005 models.

here's a thread I found on a board:http://www.cyclingforums.com/showthread.php?t=260392

let me know what you end up buying, i'm thinking about doing the same.

One thing I will suggest? TRY A LOT OF BIKES. It's hard to recommend one brand and say "this one will work for you" because everybody's physique is different, and you may feel more comfortable on one bike than another. Don't commit to the first one that feels comfortable. Try out a good variety (I'd say at least 5-7 bikes).

With that said, I would recommend trying the following bikes:

Trek
Specialized
Felt
Lemond
Cannondale
Jamis

The thing that will drive the price up is the components and frame alloy. Aluminum is going to be cheaper than titanium or carbon. Campagnolo components are going to be more expensive than Shimano (and even Shimano has a wide range of price points).

And I echo what Flying Rabbit said-- now is the time when a lot of bike shops put their 2005 models on sale. Don't write that off as an option. A friend of mine got a $4000 Cannondale bike on sale for $2000, and it was a previous year model.