Hi,

I've been lurking around here for a while. Lots of great information on this forum - thanks!

I started riding more seriously this past summer and I am planning to upgrade to a decent hybrid from my $99 Canadian Tire mountain bike, most likely in the spring. For the summer, I've got the SuperCycle on a trainer to keep my fitness up.

I have a short list of bikes I'm considering and was wondering if anyone could point out any pluses, minuses, cautions, comparisons, etc between these bikes. Things to think of like materials for the frame and fork, hardware and whether the bikes lean more to the road bike versus the comfort bike end of the spectrum.

I'm looking at:
Giant Rapid 3
Specialized Sirrus
Trek 7.2 fx, and
Cannondale Quick 5

A guy at the LBS thought that the Giant was most road bike-like with the Cannondale next and the Specialized at the more comfort end of the scale. That particular shop doesn't carry Trek.

I am 5' 6" tall, 180# and mostly ride on street and MUP around Toronto. I like to push myself and ride fairly quickly when I'm on my own, and I do casual riding with the family. I'm interested in adding a rack for a trunk and the usual bell, lights and a basic computer. I've taken a Trek 7.1 for a test ride and liked it a lot. It's been a bit cold for more test rides and I'll probably wait until the bike show or the spring to make the purchase.

Please let me know what you think and perhaps if there are other bikes I should be considering (although I would like to narrow my choices if possible).

J