Originally Posted by
ChowChow
May I ask the name and model of the bikes?
A 12-26 is much prefer over a 11-31, because for a 11-31,11-32,11-34 the gears are too far apart. You may feel as you are missing gears in between gears. It may be good if you are planing on doing hills or mountain riding, but for normal riding it won't be as good as like a 12-25, 12-26, 12-28 9/10 speed. Plus not very comfortable/good for the knees.
I think the 11-34 cassette on the Trek hybrid I have is most of the reason I hate it. The gears are spaced too far apart. The 50/34 12-26 is a fairly standard combination referred to as compact double. My new road bike has 11-28 50/34. You'll probably find the Jamis has narrower tires since it's a road bike. Unfortunately the Cannondale Quick series has different gearing depending on the price. The Quick 4 is in the same price range, but it has 11-32 cassette, while the more expensive Quick 3 has 12-26 cassette in addition to triple chainring in the front.
Test ride the Trek and the Jamis (more than just around the parking lot) and shift each bike through all of the gears. Both of those bikes are aluminum and similar weight. I don't think you would go wrong with either bike.