Bike confusion

what do you want the bike for?  do you want it for riding or for doing tri's?  (answer to #1).

i rode a ton of bikes in my buying process and chose the one that felt the best for me, and it wasn't the one with the nicest components.  i told them my price range and they lined up a bunch for me to try out.

i'm confused on the $150 fitting... does that go towards the bike you end up getting from them or is that just for their sales work in selling you a bike?  Like they would be doing anyway if you were the only one in the store?  

Yup. Most important is to figure out what kind of riding you'll be doing.  You have the advantage of already having a year's worth of riding under your belt.  What kind of riding did you do?  Mostly solo? Group rides? Hills? Technical? 

I bought a road bike because I thought I wanted a more versatile ride.  Turns out I did a lot more solo rides and don't really find group rides all that attractive.  I know I want to do more and longer tris in the future. Basically, I should've bought a tri bike.  But that's for the type of rider I am and the type of riding I want to do.

That being said, if you do go the road bike route I will highly recommend the CAAD10 (which is what I have).  Mine came with the 105 group and a compact FSA crank.  I love this thing as a road bike.  Aluminum frame but it will give some of the lower end carbon frames a run for their money.

If you get a Felt DA top of the line youll pay $8000-10000 but youll look cool like everyone else. And maybe you can finish in the top 20%.

If you get a Felt B12 you'll spend about $3000 and also look kool and also maybe finish in the top 20%. But drop maybe 3 places had you rode the FELT DA.

If you buy a lower end model and spend around $1200-1600 you also look cool (but not as cool as with the top of the line bike). You'll also finish close to where you would have using the other higher end bikes (but also lose another couple spots).

So... if you had a choice and could finish 50th with the DA, or 53rd with a B12, or 55th with a low end what would you do?

x2 for deciding on what type of riding you want/plan on doing first, then a budget.  You also should get a "fitting" included where ever you buy from IMHO as well as 100 mile checkup, a tuneup for the first year or two or more depending on the shop. 

Unless your bike is just falling apart, take your time and find what you like.

1) road vs tri: If you're into group riding and/or not completely sure yet whether you'll still enjoy tris a couple of seasons down the road, go for the road bike imho. I'm in my 4th season with several oly's and a HIM under my belt and have only just pulled to trigger on a tri bike.

2) Alu vs carbon: As far as I can tell, the main difference between alu and carbon is weight and comfort. Alu is slightly heavier (say 2 lbs for the frame) and somewhat less comfortable on more bumpy roads. Another thing to consider is that most R&D goes into carbon frames at the moment. This will trickle down to the cheaper alu frames as well, but that takes a while. Still, there's plenty of great alu frames out there with excellent value for money.

3) SRAM vs Shimano: both provide excellent components and I wouldn't say one is easier. How do you define easy anyway? Easier to shift? Easier to adjust? Both work equally well for me. SRAM tends to be somewhat lighter (maybe 3-4 ounces for the whole group), but has a more noticable click (soundwise). I personally don't notice the weight differential when on a bike and you'll get used to the click. $700 - 900 for an ultegra to 105 upgrade is a lot though. Are you sure that's the only difference? 

4) Fitting: I'm tall (6'5) and most LBS I walked into will just put me on the biggest bike they have and say it's a perfect fit, or else they'll make sure it fits. Somehow, this sounded a bit too easy for me, given the investment involved. So, I decided to do a professional tri fit a couple of weeks ago and it turned out there's actually quite a few models that would not fit me at all, or where I'd have to go to the L size instead of the XL one (the new Shiv for example). The bike another reputed store had recommended for me (and which they happened to have in stock) actually would not have fitted at all... So, I would be strongly in favor of the fitting approach! At the end of the day, $150 is quite a bit of money, but only a fraction of your total bike budget. And if I read it correctly, you'll get it reimbursed if you decide to order through them. 

Good luck choosing!