[silly]

Buy your first bike from your Local bike shop. You'll appreciate the relationship you establish much more than the fifty bucks you would save buying online, which often isn't worth it anyway. Besides paying for shipping, you may have to pay for assembly (depending on whom you purchase from), a fitting, and accessories. Any reputable bike shop should provide all assembly and a fitting with the purchase and you can usually get a break on accessories (shorts, gloves, bike rack, helmet).

If you want to purchase online, please do not go into the local bike shop and pick the sales person's brain and test ride a lot of bikes before doing so. This is for your own good, as we remember you when you do this. You may not get bad service, but you can be guaranteed that the customers who are more considerate of our time definitely get much better service and, in most cases, better pricing than you. It sounds shitty, but it's the truth in the retail / service business that loyalty is valued. And, eventually, you will have that one emergency when you'll need your LBS.