I'm wondering if anyone could recommend an affordable (<$1400ish) road bike with a standover height in the 27-28 inch/ 65-70 cm range. I'm not a serious biker, but am looking for something that I can put in a decently long day on, as well as still use to commute.

Thanks,

Garrett

Surly LHT? The two smallest frame sizes seem to meet your standover height requirements, it's a tourer so you can put wide tires, fenders and racks on it to commute, and at $1100 plus a pair of pedals, fenders and a rack you'd have change from your $1400. What I like about the LHT is that the smaller frames come standard with 26" wheels (mountain bike size), which I think makes more sense than trying to fit 700C road wheels into a small frame. The 26" rims are about 2 1/2" smaller in diameter than standard road bike rims, which automatically gives you about 1 1/4" lower standover height without the designer having to compromise the frame geometry to make everything fit. You can buy anything from 1" wide racing slicks to big, wide knobbies in a 26" size and the LHT will take up to a 2.1" wide tire, so you can pick from a wide range of tire sizes depending on where and how you want to ride.

surlybikes.com/bikes/long_haul_trucker_complete/

Girlfriend = triathlete and bike shop employee says "Felt Z85" w/ shimano 105 components its $1150. Amazing deal for the bike apparently.

Thanks for the replies. The Felt looks very nice for the price, but at this point I'm leaning more toward the Surly based on durability. I'll see if I can find any shops around carrying the LHT and giv'er a ride.

Garrett

You seem to have a pretty good idea of what you want, but here's a few perspectives on bicycle fit if you haven't already seen them:
www.coloradocyclist.com/bikefit/

www.peterwhitecycles.com/fitting.htm

www.rivbike.com/article/bike_fit/fit_sizing_position

HTH,
mark