I'm thinking about getting a light weight flat bar road bike. I went to the LBS today and was told that the Cannondale Quick Carbon 1 is considered a hybrid. Who knew? Cannondale's only flat bar is the CAAD 8 series (aluminum). They said when the 2016 comes out the CAAD 12 will replace the CAAD10 and the CAAD 10 will be a flat bar replacing the CAAD 8. Can't wait until July when the LBS gets the bike info.
Another carbon I'm looking at is the Giant FastRoad CoMax 1 or 2. Anyone own one?
Thoughts on it or any other flat bar?

Felt has some cool ones. I recommend ERGON grips.

Trek 7.7 FX is a CF Domane with flat bars. Specialized Sirrus is available in 4 CF versions ranging from $1500 to 2800.

My son rode a Specialized Sirrus for a couple years, he put a few thousand km on it. He (and we) we're sad when he out grew it. Got a high rate of return when we sold it at a bike swap.

I have a 2013 Trek FX 7.5 and a 2014 Cannondale CAAD10. Both nice bikes, really, but for longer road rides you could not pay me to ride the Trek over 10 to 12 miles in one setting. Cannot move your hands enough to get comfy, nice ride for awhile, then it gets old..............quick. JMHO.

I've been riding 'flat-bar road' for years. Something to keep in mind: geometry.

"Flat-bar road bikes" currently fall into two broad classes in my opinion:

i) drop-bar road bikes (frames) with flat bars/components added on. Current or recent examples: the Trek 7.7FX (a Domane frame w/flat bars); the Cannondale CAAD8 Flat Bar; 2013 or '14 Specialized carbon Sirrus. The latter were basically Roubaix frames w/flat bars.

ii) purpose-designed flat-bar road bikes. Typically, these will have a slightly longer front centre (Eff. t/t) than a drop-bar equivalent. A current example is the 2015 Specialized Sirrus frame; if one fit/rode a 54 Roubaix frame (eff. t/t 548mm) one would typically fit a 'Medium' carbon Sirrus: 580mm eff. t/t. These bikes will also often have slightly longer rear centres (c/s length), so a bit more tire clearance than would be typical on a race/endurance drop-bar bike.
Other current examples: Giant Fastroad; Cannondale Quick Carbon; possibly the brand new (2016) Felt DiabloScott pictures above (geometry info. doesn't seem available yet).

Choosing between the two? Depends what you like, I suppose. I prefer the purpose-designed ones for the slightly longer reach. I find that with bikes like the older carbon Sirrus or the Trek 7.7FX I would have to 'size up' to get proper reach, which in turn messes things up in other respects. Poor picture below (tires are now Specialized Roubaix 32s) of my bike -- a rebuilt (drivetrain/wheels) '10 Sirrus Comp.

they got labeled 'Fitness bikes' , essentially another name for a Hybrid of the higher end with narrow performance wheels

Even Campag made flat bar controls for their mid line components,
US Distributors dont, or didnt, carry them.. more an internal EU and maybe Australia Market .

USA, a hybrid with narrow rims and tires will be close enough I'd Guess..

Ask them why one is considered a hybrid and the other is not. Anyway, what it is called isn't really important. It's how you like the ride and the fit of the bike. Test ride them to see which you like better. And don't forget you can change tires, and your position to suit your needs. I have a 2006 Trek 7.5 FX. It came with 700 x 32 tires. They lasted a few weeks before I went to 28's. Then 25's. It makes a world of difference in how the bike handles. It came with the same wheels as my wifes Trek 2.1. I also changed to carbon fiber handle bars and stem. The 06 came with an AL fork. The carbon bars reduce the vibration in the handle bars by a great deal. I find there are planty of hand positions along the bars to be comfortable for longer rides, 30 - 40 miles are no problem. I can also easily change my position by moving spacers around on the stem to make it more upright, or more agressive. And it also has eyelets so if I want to put fenders or a rack on it's easy.
The bottom line is, test ride, test ride, test ride. And don't let the bike shop talk you out or into a bike because it's not a "XXXX" bike. Get the one you like.

Preface: I'm a novice rider and completely new to this era of biking; last bike purchased was 30+ years ago... (so feel free to ignore what I will say; I won't be offended).

I just picked up a Giant FastRoad CoMax 1. Medium sized.

This model was what attracted me to Giant as I had never heard of it before. I recently had been stunned when I picked up a Cannondale carbon fiber bike at a LBS and found out how light bikes can be now.

I went in to see a Defy Advanced 2. I wanted the full CF treatment that it had and the Shimano 105 groupset. It's drop handlebars were a worry though. I had been riding my steel flatbar Nishki for 30 years and wasn't sure the drop handles were for me. Experts on the Internet were adamant that drop bars are better though and so I felt I had to give these bars a fair trial.

I tried very hard to accept the drops. And the Giant store was patient, letting me try a couple of models of Defy for spins around the block. I felt I was beginning to find them acceptable but did notice that there was considerably more pressure on my hands with drop bars than flat.

Nearly on lark, I tried the Giant FastRoad CoMax 1. There was an instant epiphany. It was The One. From a comfort and riding posture point of view, it was a night and day. The Fastroad was a much better fit for me. I was comfortable right away. My hands felt immediately comfortable on the flat bars. There was little to no weight on them.

I left with the Fastroad. --and hundreds of extra dollars in my pocket compared with if I had bought the Defy Advanced 2. Bonus: Shimano hydraulic disc brakes. Awesome stopping power. Excellent control and modulation. There is a slight noise issue that I've asked about in a different post, but only on brake application: there is a slight scrubbing sound when you apply the brakes. Probably normal and hopefully will go away once the brakes settle in (that's what the dealer said). But my 30 year old Nishki cantilevers are silent by comparison.

Slight tradeoff: the Fastroad Comax 1 frame is not 100 CF. There's a bit of polymer composite mixed in there to reduce the cost. It's a couple to 3 pounds heavier than the Defy Adv 2 (though the hydraulic brakes might have also contributed to this weight gain). For my riding style, I'm completely unconcerned about this. The biggest thing was the bike "felt right" to me.

I'll cap this off by describing my needs as this is a big factor in the choice: I'm an amateur rider. I will ride on flat or near-flat roads. I will sight-see. I will not race. I will not commute with it. I will not ride long distances. Longest ride may be 3 to 4 hours in a day interspersed with a meal or much getting off for picture-taking. The bike will ride with me in my minivan until I get to where I want to ride. I'll enjoy the ride and then take the van back home. I've had 30 years of riding flatbar and at my age, I'm not going to change. The Fastroad's slightly upright stance suits me to a "tee".

Oh, one could ask: why the heck did you get a CF bike anyways? Why not a beach cruiser? I don't have a good reason other than I'm a geeky guy. I'm a rookie photographer, yet I have some interesting cameras. I am not a race car driver but I've had some interesting cars. My home theatre could thoroughly annoy the neighbors. You know my type...

One ambition though: maybe my new toy will inspire me to ride more. Get more fit. Who knows, maybe a full-fledged CF drop-bar road racer is in my future. But realistically, probably not. I could see myself being happy with the Fastroad for a long time, possibly it'll be the last bike I'll ever buy.

My 7 year-old son has just begun riding his 24" road bike. It originally had drop bars but because my son had trouble with the brifters I swapped his bars to flat ones. Like magic he became totally confident and he is starting to really ride. When we first went riding together I found that drops make following him tedious because I need to use the brakes very often. I have now changed the bars on my carbon bike to flat as well and I am really liking them. We live in some serious hills and the bars really make climbing more efficient. The bonus is that the 6800 derailleurs work like butter using the RS700 flat bar shifters and braking is a dream. The free cables are a big improvement over being taped to the bars.

Time to build another drop bar bike - I have one in bits waiting for assembly.

I like drop bars on my road bikes for those days/times I'm feeling "ambitious". I also like riding with my hands on the brake lever hoods. But I also want/prefer a more upright, touring position and with less weight on my hands for everyday riding so for me that generally means replacing the bar stem to get where/what I want. Could go with a shorter, 56 frame but with a stem change 58 has always worked really well for me...6'2" with a 32.5 inch inseam.