Hybrid Bicycles - Cannondale Bad Boy Solo

I am pretty new at biking. I am looking for a mid / high end Hybrid bike. I've been doing some research and really like this bike. I am going to be using it for mostly bike path / road use. I am currently borrowing someone elses Hybrid and love the front shock as the path are very bumpy and have alot of hills. I am also going to be using it for so distances such as the NYC 5 borough bike tour and a few on LI such as a 66 mile one out east. After that just some commuting and recreational use, which is why I like the hybrid . Am I on the right path or should I be looking for something else....???

Do more than research - get to as many local bike shops, as you can, and ride every bike you can - one will jump out at you as the best for you..... Nothing takes the place of a test ride.

Once you do that, get back to us with questions and comments.

I actually did try a bunch of bikes out at a few stores. Unfortunately none of them had the bad Boy Ultra in stock. I did try the Cannondale Quick 2 and loved the ride and also the Trek 7.5 FX. I just really liked the feature of the front shock. The Bad Boy has an adjustable front shock that can be adjusted to fixed. The bike "salesman" told me that the ride for the Quick and the Bad Boy were very similar. I understand that zipping around the parking lot is alot different than going 45 miles, which is why I came here. Is this a good bike for what I intend it for or should I go in a different direction. In a perfect world I could test drive it for the weekend ..:) Thank you for your help..

Al