I live in Canada and now that summer's is getting closer I've decided I was going to bike to work all summer. The only thing is I don't know the first thing about bikes and I would really appreciate some advice on what's better. I'm going to be doing a total of 30 km a day or 18.5 miles.

I went out to different bike shops to look at hybrids and I've narrowed it down to 4 bikes in my price range:
Diamondback Miramar - $350
Diamondback Kalamar - $400
Miele Toscana 100 - $330
Kona Dew - $400

I've tried finding specs online for these bikes but couldn't find anything except for the Kona Dew. I do have brochures with the specs for the other bikes and I could probably scan them and post them as images.

Thanks to anyone that takes the time to give their opinion.

Doesn't matter. It's a disposable bike. In a year or two you'll want a road bike and the hybrid will start gathering dust. Instead have fun figuring out when your bike is free: $1.00/mile will add up quickly at those costs.

Actually, I respectfully disagree. There are many factors that determine whether or not a bike will work as a commuter. if the roads are bad he might find himself wanting a mountain bike or if hand pain is an issue merely modifying the hybrid with dropbars. My initial commuter bike was a hybridized mountain bike (and it still is); however, I've opted to pick up a backup bike which is a Specialized Sirrus hybrid. Why? the mountain bike is great for moving extremely heavy and bulky loads, but it's geared it too low for making good time. Secondly, although drop bars are good over distance flat bars are useful for hanging lights, computers, etc. and for keeping one's head high while in traffic so for the time being I have opted to stay with flat bars, but sometime in the future I may consider North roads. At no time have I ever considered commuting all my road bike because I find the geometry and the positioning on the bike too "whippy" to contend with in city traffic.

Here are some links for more specs:

https://www.diamondback.com/bikes/hybrid/kalamar-08/

https://72.14.253.104/search?q=cache:...lnk&cd=1&gl=us

The second link looks weird because it's a cached Google page. The actual page seems to be gone, and the links are broken on the Miele site.

Anyway, I'd go with the Kona if it were me. The Diamondback has the same freewheel as my first bike (a GT Timberline). The lowest gear is so much lower than the second gear that it feels like the chain fell off when you switch to it. A low gear like that is nice, but the Kona probably has a lower combination available since it has a triple crank (as opposed to the single on the Diamondback) and a 32-tooth lowest gear. I also like the EZ Fire shifter better than the twist.

Of course, it looks like the Miele's got these same things going for it, but I don't know anything about Miele, whereas I own a Kona Jake, which I love. I think the tires are better on the Kona. The frame is made of a different type of aluminum, but I'm not sure either one is better than the other.

Thanks for the responses. I was actually able to get more specs and put this together. It's all Chinese to me but you guys should understand it.

Man, you've got too much time on your hands. :-)

Honestly, I made a spreadsheet like that when I bought my last bike, and I had a second page comparing gear inches.

There's not a whole lot separating these bikes. You'd probably be OK with any of them. Go ride 'em and see which one you like. Don't let them oversell the "comfort" of the front suspension and suspension seat post. For commuting, it rarely comes into play except making the bike fell vaguely spongy (and I mean that in a bad way).

Retrofitting a bike with drop bars is not so simple unless it's a single speed or fixed gear. There's the shifters to deal with. If you want to add drop bars with real road shifters after the fact, it's going to cost you.

What kind of road bike/bars do you have? I've got plenty of room for both a computer and lights on mine and the only sense of "whippiness" I get is when I'm using the aero bars that are on one of my bikes. I ride a flat-bar MTB in the winter and a bike with drops the rest of the year, - in city traffic. I find the road bike to be much more reponsive in terms of handling so I don't understand the preference for flat bars (for handling) unless you need additional leverage for jumping curbs and whatnot (which you're not going to do on a roadbike anyway).