I've been reading a bunch of posts for the past week or so and was hoping you guys could help me out. Haven't purchased a bike in years and I'm looking for a new one to go off to college with. I'll be going to school in dc so I wanted a commuter/hybrid. I've been around to a few local bike shops as well as REI and have heard a lot of different things. I'll just list some of the bikes I was looking at and would appreciate if you could comment on or recommend one out of the pack. I will be going back to test ride some of them later this week but really wanted to narrow it down. So far I've only ridden the sirrus. Thanks in advanced for all your help.

raleigh cadent ft1
specialized sirrus
cannonade quick series
scott sub 30
marin muirwoods 29
cannonade bad boy
novara buzz v
trek pdx
trek valencia

Trek Valencia is good bike I recommend, but the other dont know.

Get the Surly! Oh, wait, that's not on the list.

Heard good things generally about the Sirrus and the Valencia. Don't know much about the others.

I think the Trek PDX is a great value. It seems to have a lot for the price. The Valencia is about $200 more, I think, but if that isn't an issue, it looks great.

Do you have a secure place to store it?

Need links. Too much work without. Otherwise, people will just recommend the few bikes they've seen or owned.

That is a very good question. If not, you may not want an expensive new bike.

Also I forgot to mention the Trek FX series. You can get a 7.3 FX cheaper than the Valencia, or a 7.2 FX even cheaper than that. They are listed under "Bike Path" on the Trek site, so you may not have looked at them, but they have all the attachment thingies you'll need for rack and fenders.

I can't speak to the other models on the list, but I can give a big thumbs up to the Sirrus. I just got one a few weeks ago and I'm loving it. It's really stiff and well built, and it's reasonably fast - I can do a respectable job of keeping pace with the road bike folks. I think you'd be happy with it.

Let us know what you decide.