Ouch....you just missed their 50th Anniv. sale. They had all the bikes discounted.

Bought my kid a Novara and it's a decent bike for the money. REI also has an excellent customer service policy. And you'll get your 10% dividend back at the end of the year so there's that. I don't know fine print but I think you can basically return it for any reason if it doesn't turn out to be the bike you want.