A piece of advice that I wish someone told me when I got into road bikes... Spend as much as you can comfortably afford on your bike, and then worry about the rest as you go. Your main piece of equipment is your bike, and EVERYONE at some time or another will experience a case of
"new'itis" ... wanting the newest / hottest shit lol. So you may as well buy a bike that you will be happy with. And being happy with it usually means the looks, because let's face it, road cycling is like 80% about looking cool hahahaha.
SRAM vs. Shimano... It's all personal preference. I prefer SRAM for it's doubletap levers and the indexing is a crisper feeling for me. I like the quickness and feedback, almost like driving a manual transmission. Also the levers feel better with my small hands. Shimano feels almost too smooth if that makes any sense. Hydro disk vs rim brakes, again depends on riding needs.
Go into the bike store ride and ask plenty of questions. No one here will be able to give you a clear cut answer
