Well, first off, welcome to the forum. There are a lot of folks around here on there second cycling career including myself. I do have a '93 Diamondback Topanga MTB that I have made into a hybrid and I like it. That, however is from back when Diamondback was a bike shop bike and not sold at big box stores. I am sure that somebody will chime in with a suggestion about some new bikes. My suggestion is to give the used bike rack at the local bike shops a look. The used bikes most often been gone through and are in pretty decent condition. If you are any good at twiddling wrenches, you can save yourself some more money on maintenance.

Pull up a chair and join us after some of your rides.