Originally Posted by buelito
I will apologize in advance to all those who own hybrids... my experience (I rented one in San Francisco a couple of years ago) is that a hybrid combines the worst aspects of the mountain bike and of the road bike. It is not good on the road and it is not good off the road. Either get a mountain bike with slicks or get a road bike, or a cross bike (or a fixie). That's my 2 cents...
but, like has been said above, the most important thing is bike fit.
train safe-
+1
For a new rider a road bike can be "different" and not as eay to negotiate as an All terrain/mountain bike, due to the drop bars. I would suggest a flat bar road bike like the
Novara Forza
I suggest keeping you eye out for a used road/touring bike and get some flat bars for it. It will be a smoother ride with the controlability that a new rider will like.