Thank you all for your replies. I still have the Onyx, but will most likely return it unfortunately. I tried to make it work out, but for some reason the gear shift is hurting my wrist. Is that strange? Even though the twist is fairly smooth, should it cause an issue like that?

Also, I do find the bike to struggle on hills. It is a commuter, but there are a couple of spots with "steepish" hills. Not sure of the incline. Could it be me that's slow? I've ridden it on my Specialized Hard Rock and don't think I was that slow on the hills...

I'm just trying to rule everything out before I proceed with the return.

I am leaning towards either putting money into my Hard Rock or purchasing a used bike that's similar and solid. Ideally I'd like it to be lighter, yet solid and as weatherproof as possible (which is what I liked about the Onyx).