I buy a lot of accessories from Performance, but I'd never buy a bike there.

Internet forums are great for getting preliminary information, but there's no substitute to good, solid know how at your local LBS. What that "LBS" may be varies - maybe it really is Performance, maybe it's REI (bought a couple bikes there), maybe it's a locally owned shop (bought a bike there too, unfortunately).

My wife went in to buy a hybrid from them a while back and they fed her pure garbage information trying to sell her on whatever overstock they had sitting around. Still - go with the place with the staff that knows the most and is the most helpful. You'll end up with the bike that fits you the best and the best support. You might pay more, but in the end what's cheap is expensive.