Thanks everyone! This has been helpful! The thing is that I'm looking to buy this bike 2nd hand, so I'm limited by the options available given that I'd like one by May 1st. It will mainly be a commuter bike, but I prefer to commute through the city trails instead of on the road and I'll be biking about 1.5 hours/day (half on city trail, half on road).

It looks like the Specialized Ariel (the one I like best) is out because it's too far away for me to pick up the bike (btw this one had V-brakes, not disc). So in this case I'm looking at 2 much more comprable bikes.

Women's Specialized Vita Hybrid:
http://www.sportinglife.ca/sportingl...ike-%5B2012%5D

And the Louis Garneau Urbania 2.0, which unfortunately doesn't list many specs (photo of brake attached):
http://www.louisgarneau.com/ca-en/pr...NIA_2.0#second


I'm finding it difficult to compare specs on these bikes (especially not knowing anything about bikes). Is there a significant difference between these bikes? Or do you like one more than the other for any reason?

Thanks for your help!
Paula