Commuting - Newbie needs help in selecting new bicycle

Hi,

I must buy a new bycicle and I could use some help in selecting the type of frame and particular model.

I'm about 5'11" and weigh between 185 and 200 lbs (depending on season, my motivaiton to go to the gym in the winter and other details).
I'm still a student and so wanted to stay in the 400-600 $Canadian (~330 to 500 $US) price range
I use my bicycle almost exclusively to travel around the city every day. I would estimate that I ride about 10-15 miles a day in short 3-4 miles city trips (not necessarily on pavement)
I also occasionaly go on day trips. Without going off-road, I don't necessarily stay on paved paths on these trips.
Every once in a while, I'll go on a longer weekend trip (60-100 miles).

From the above, I would obviously need a versatile bicycle, but I don't have enough funds to get several bicycles perfectly suited to every application.

I used to ride a specialized hard rock from the mid-90's for the last 10 years or so. It decided to retire after several years of (unwarranted and shameful) abuse and I have to buy a new bicycle now (which I will obviously take much better care of).My old specialized served me quite well and I was never really displeased with. Only recently did I find it sometime uncomfortable to ride for the lower back. I thought originally that this may have been that a hybrid was not a good idea for city biking, although after reading several posts, I'm starting to think I simply may have grown out of it and it was now the wrong size for me. I was therefore thinking of staying with a hybrid bycicle. So far, one of the choices is the TREK 7300FX (with no suspension, I was never used to it and I never thought it was that useful to me).

Am I looking at the proper type of bycicle for what I want to do?
What other models would you suggest, so that I could get ideas as to what to compare and what to try?

Any other help would be appreciated, thank you very much,

Charles

Sorry if this isn't helpful - but if you intend on using your bike on campus and locking it up between classes, you might want to carefully think about spending $400 on a bike. I'm doing a lot of guessing based on what you put in for your "location" which says you will soon be moving to Urbana for school, I presume. Perhaps that's a low crime area, but most college campuses are notoriously bad for bike theft. Perhaps you could wait until you're actually on campus to check out the situation and then consider new vs. used?

Try a second hand Sirrus. I have a 2001 one which I bought new. Very nice bike. The newer Sirrus is different it is only the same in name. For Campus you may need something which works well, has nice shifting etc but does not have a very high theft level.
The olders Sirrus were Deore back, Deore shifters, wheels were crap so probably will have been changed by the owner at this stage. You can use for all roads, track, but not off road. You may get lucky and get someone elses who has move up to a higher one.

Don't know if my ideas will be of any help to you, but I'm planning a new bike this summer. I'm thinking a steel frame cyclo-cross will fit my needs the best. Most likely a Jamis Nova with the LeMond Poprad as a second choice.

This bike will serve as a rural commuter with some trails and woods when I go hunting and fishing.

I would also have suggested the Trek 7300FX, it's a great bike (my wife has one). However, your concerns about theft are valid. Find out if there are any indoor facilities available for parking your bike while at school.

I'm not too worried about theft. I'm a grad student and I always have an office or a lab, so I can set the bicycle in a corner, so it's safe.

I'll take a look at the sirrus for sure. I've just recently found the Marin Muirwoods (http://www.marinbikes.com/bicycles_2005/html/bikes/bike_specs/specs_muirwoods.html) and Novato (http://www.marinbikes.com/bicycles_2005/html/bikes/bike_specs/specs_novato.html), which are probably in my price range (at least for the Muirwoods) and the specs and geometry seem good. I'll try and sit on one today to see how it feels.