I have never been a serious biker, but I've spent a fair amount of time on a bike in the past. I rode my bike about 10 miles a day in college and was into trail riding for a few years during high school and college. That said, my bike needs a lot of work. I want to start biking again and get ready for a biking trip to southern california with my wife. We want to bike from LA to San diego.

The plan is to do about 30 miles a day and it's in a month and a half. We are going to start riding now. I know this isn't a ton of riding but we aren't in great shape either.

So....I'm looking for bikes. I really don't want a road bike and I live on a gravel road. I don't plan to do any mountian biking either, so I am looking at the trek FX and DS series bikes in a 19" frame. I test rode a few of the DS bikes (8.4) and liked them. After those rides I started thinking about the necessity of disc brakes and the suspension, and the seem like something that isn't important. What is your opinion on this? My friend is recommending the 8.4 also but I just don't see the need for the suspension. I've never had one before though, but I've never ridden this much in a day either.

Thanks in advance for the input!