Hi all,

I'm new here

I just recently started biking and bought a 2011 Specilized Crosstrail Sport. It was such a good bike and I loved it. But alas, it was stolen right from my building (was chained), lesson learned I only had it for 6 months so its a real shame... (anything I can do btw? maybe police report or something?).


I need a new bike for the following use:

I commute throughout Brooklyn, NY. I do this for work, real estate. So sometimes I find myself in bad neighborhoods with bad roads.

I also had a Topeak Explorer on my bike and I like to haul stuff to Post Office, work etc... So something sturdy I need.

I liked everything about my crosstrail except that when it was raining I couldn't go out because my disk break would squeal very hard (but I guess its with all Disc brakes, which I like a lot). Also another nuisance was that my handlebar grips would slide up and down and sideways.

Do I even need a Hybrid? reason I got one is because of some rough roads so I figured the front shock will help and it did. It was very comfortable.

But I also like to go fast, I like to compete and do Segments on Strava, and basically whenever I see someone pass me I HAVE TO get infront My Crosstrail was not so fast against some road bikers...

Another thing about considering new bike is looks. Reason I got that Crosstrail is that it was all Black and beautiful. I would like something of the same frame type and all black (maybe red accent is also nice).

Price range $600-$1200.

I saw someone suggest a Cannondale Bad Boy 9. I like it looks. Is it faster than the Crosstrail? and I dont see a front shocker on it though...