When I lived in Los Angeles I bought a hybrid because I didn't know bikes and it seemed like that's what I wanted. In retrospect I wish I had bought a road bike because the streets there are pretty descent. When I moved back to Arizona I knew the roads were going to be well paved to rutty to pot-holed to plain old dirt -- all within a hundred meters of each other. To get the maximum enjoyment out of all the roads it was going to have to be a hybrid. I sometimes wish I had a road bike, but I can't complain. Wish I had a Porsche too . . . .