Hi!
This is my first post here!
I'm looking for a new bike, as I'm thinking of starting to commute to work and my old bike is awfully heavy. I live in a very hilly city in a country where there is no law for cyclists and the only bike trails are on city parks or beaches. Actually, there's only one law, which is to use lights when at night... besides it, a car has always priority (except in roundabouts but no one cares about a cyclist anyway).
My experiments have been somewhere between 20 min to work and about 35min to get home. I go down to one side and up to another, so I go much slowly. So I'm looking for a bike that's easy to ride and light to carry, as my girlfriend lives on a 6th floor and the elevator is very small.
Plus, if I really like this commuting thing I might start doing some touring too on vacations, so I need a bike that allows it.
So, after a long look for bikes, I managed to reduce the choices a little. I'm looking for something bellow €600, but every bike is more expensive here than the prices I've seen around in Europe.
So, I'm thinking of Trek 7.3 FX in white as my first choice which costs €600 here...
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes..._path/fx/73fx/
7.2 FX is around €500 here and it's another choice, I don't know my exact money yet and I still need a rack, fenders and lights. And a helmet.
Next comes Trek SU 1.0 €600
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...rt_urban/su10/
I liked the Marin Larkspur, which goes around €450 but I don't like the 2008 model. The new frame is awful... Anyway, it's hard to find it here.
http://www.marinbikes.com/bicycles_2..._larkspur.html
The Scott SUB 30 (€475) and the Sportster P5 (€400) and P4 (€500) are also interesting choices. (You can get Scott's anywhere, just like Specialized)
http://scottusa.com/gb_en/product/196/675/sub_30
http://scottusa.com/gb_en/product/195/696/sportster_p5
http://scottusa.com/gb_en/product/195/691/sportster_p4
The Focus Marakas is a great choice for €450 (my guess)
http://www.focusbikesuk.com/focus-hy...ke_marakas.php
I also liked a Fuji but can't seem to find them here, just like the Iron Horse's Transit series.
I'm looking for something around €450 but I can go up to €600 if it's worth it. I need something fast and easy for hilly streets adn with 700c. What do you recomend between all these models? What have you tried from these ones or what do you use? And are these hybrid things confy for a long road use after 200km with luggage?
Thank you all for your answers!