Welcome both to Bike Forums and back to cycling! I'm still pretty new to all this, too, having come back less than 2 years ago after roughly a 40 year absence from riding a bike Love it and now if I'm not riding at least 4 days a week, I feel like a slacker. Ha!

Here in the States, Treks seem to be most prolific followed by Specialized. I do not have any hands on experience with any other brands besides those two. You cannot go wrong with either.

Your first big decision is do you need something that can handle a mountain bike trail with rocks, roots and other obstacles. If the answer is yes, and you also want to ride the roads, a dual sport, with a front shock, is what you need. If you decide you can stick to roads and packed gravel or dirt trails, then a hybrid with no front shock is what you'd want. My daughter wanted the former and we got her a Trek DS which I can definitely recommend http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes...ort/ds_series/ In my opinion, moving up the DS line, it's worth spending to get the best model you can comfortably afford. Your local bike shop ought to give you roughly 10% off the prices listed. The big bike chain stores may not, but the truly local mom and pop stores will. Look at the dealer listing on the Trek site and find the closest dealers in your area and shop around. Also, all bike shops are not created equal when it comes to staff and customer service. Some are in it for a buck and some are in it because they love, live, and breathe bikes. Hopefully, you can find one of those! If you decide you don't need to be able to ride mountain bike trails, look at a hybrid like the FX line http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes/town/fitness/fx/ Those lines kinda equate to the Specialized Crosstrail http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bik...use/crosstrail or Sirrus http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bikes/multi-use/sirrus

Along with your bike, you'll definitely want to get a seat bag to carry a spare tube and patch kit. You'll need some kind of frame pump or CO2 to air up your tires after a flat. It WILL happen! Depending on your tires you may need one or two tire 'irons'. You'll likely want a tail light of some kind and it you think you'll ever, EVER be out at dusk or later you should also get a head light. Get a pair of gloves. Fingerless for warm weather. With fingers if you'll be riding much below 60F. Glasses help to keep wind and bugs out of your eyes. Oh, and you'll need a helmet. Those are the essentials.

Down the road your going to find that cycling shorts really do help with butt pain and comfort and are a necessity for longer rides. Biking jerseys are great for being seen and the three pockets on the back are invaluable for carrying energy bars or gels, maybe a pump, pepper spray for the dogs, spare glasses, and trash from the energy bar you just ate You may want a mirror. I like them and have tried both helmet mounted mirrors and bike mounted mirrors and prefer the latter. Most harder core bikers prefer helmet mounted.

Down the road you can start playing with saddles, grips, handlebars, pedals, and all that other stuff that makes it fun and customize your ride to suit your particular tastes and desires. It's SO much fun! Enjoy.