When I got back into bikes after a 12 year hiatus I bought a mountain bike because that is all I ever had. I made the mistake of test riding a few hybrid bikes and had to have one afterwards. I can tell you that any of the bikes you are looking into are going to be WAY faster than the Diamondback. I went with the 7.3 FX because it fit me better than the others, but now I want a full on Road bike. I am going to take my time with my next bike, save up, and get what I really want. Have you test road any of the hybrids? Just going from 26in mt bike to 700c road wheels is like puting rocket boosters on your bike in my opinion...