Hi DavidS
It seems you haven't cycled much in the last few years, and are trying to get yourself going. Well done!
As it seems like you are buying one bike, but don't yet ride much, I'd strongly recommend getting something a bit more versatile than a pure 'road' bike, because until you've ridden lots, you don't know. I'd certainly counsel you not to write off CX bikes or touring bikes without trying one. As you say, it's best to see them and ride them. A CX bike is basically a road bike built with a bit more strength and room for fatter tyres - but you can put thinner tyres on too, if you want. And the weight penalty is not at all great. Why not have two sets of wheels? Similarly, a touring bike is just a road bike with slightly 'slacker' geometry and room for wider tyres, making it slightly heavier and slightly less 'snappy' than a pure road bike, but a lot more comfortable and a lot more versatile.
A touring bike or a CX bike will also come with lower gearing that a road bike - road bikes have gearing for professional racers, which is unfortunate if you're not. And should you at some stage decide you want to add a rack for some panniers, or go down some bridleways or, like me, you happen to live somewhere where the roads seem not to have been resurfaced since the war, you might appreciate not having thin tyres pumped up to a pressure that makes your bike uncomfortable on all but the smoothest surface.
Take an analogy with cars. If you want a car you will use for everything, but you want a fast car, you wouldn't buy a McClaren, because the compromises are too great. They're hard to park, expensive to maintain, use lots of fuel, are hopeless when it comes to fitting everyday things in the 'boot' and you can't access the performance (the one advantage they do have) on the road anyway. You'd be much better served with something like an Audi RS of some sort - you'd get a useful boot, back seats, relatively reasonable fuel consumption, a park-able size and at least enough ground clearance to cope with speed humps at more than a slow walking pace.
It's the same with bikes. Personally I don't see the point of a pure racing bike unless, you know, you're racing it. A bike that can get just you and a spare inner tube 20 miles away in a little over an hour is a nice bike. A bike that can get you and some shopping, or a picnic, or some camping gear, or some books you need to return, or whatever over 20 miles away in an hour and a half (or just you in hardly any more time than the 'pure' road bike) and in more comfort, is a very useful and lovely thing indeed.
