This is a desperate plea for help.
As I just posted in my introduction, I'm a senior citizen who's been riding for a long time and whose mountain bike just died, but who knows almost nothing about the new technology. I've been doing a crash course and originally set a deadline of tomorrow (!) to buy a new bike so I can get back to riding. I'm also feeling pressured because I'm hoping for a good deal on last year's model and they're going quickly....
Because I haven't done much "mountain" riding on my mountain bike in the past few years, I've decided on a hybrid this time. I'll be riding it mostly in town for fitness and exercise, but want to be able to occasionally go off road on easy trails.
The more I look, the more confused I become. Following are the best deals I've been able to find on what look to me like fairly good-quality bikes (for me, anyway)
Specialized Crosstrail Disc $540 US
Specialized Crosstrail Sport Disc $700
Giant Roam 2 $590
Trek 8.3 DS $520
Cannondale Quick CX 3 $695
All of these are 2014 models except the Giant, which supposedly is a 2015 (although the Web page says "Roam 2 (2015), Model Year 2014" -- what does that mean?) All appear to have similar features, except that the Trek has mechanical disc brakes, while all the rest have hydraulic brakes.
I was at the point of deciding, until I got a chance to ride the Cannondale tonight, and now I'm back to a maximum state of confusion
. Although the Cannondale is one of the most expensive, I liked it a lot and the dealer offers lifetime service/tuneups (hydraulic brakes excluded).
Can you help me decide (please)?
Thanks in advance,
Warren