My first bike was a Giant Boulder mountain bike. Early on, I discovered that I liked riding on pavement more than dirt and that I needed something more efficient. Knowing very little about bicycles, I "lucked" out and chose a Specialized Sirrus hybrid in the $500.00 range. It had the flat bars and the mountain bike style shifters, but the geometry and tires were more like a true road bike. I still ride this bike from time to time and have over 1000 miles on it. Even at that price range I think it's a great bike. It was perfect for me to ride enough miles on it (including two centuries) to know I wanted to move toward a traditional drop bar road bike. I've since put close to 2000 miles on my Bianchi roadie. In my opinion, there's nothing wrong with any bicycle if you like it and it's fun to ride. I have to admit...that I somewhat cringe when I see kids on bmx bikes..but then I'm an old coot. They are riding "bikes" after all...and that has to be a good thing.