A step through frame doesn't easily go on a car rack, trunk style with arms. You need to buy an extra piece to create a "bar" for it to hang properly.

I need layman's terms

I would never ever have thought that. Thank you

Well ... communications skills involve speaking the language of the person with whom you wish to communicate.

Most people who had been riding for a while would already know which side to put up ... and anyone who might need the advice, might not know specialized terms. "Chain-side up" is completely accurate and comprehensible for laymen and aficionados alike,.

New and more useful term.

You wouldn't want to bend the hangy thing, or scratch the spikey discs that make your bike go.

You make ne decisions yet? Shocks or no? fat or skinny tires? I'd say if your unsure go for the rigid fork with fatter tires..always a good time

Well here's and update: Everyday we have been talking about our soon to be bikes...
We've watched a lot of YouTube videos (thanks guys!) and I think we have become quite attched to the Roam and the Rove. (Yep we went full circle )
We checked out some info on the trails that are available around here and they look so fun. My husband decided he wants the suspension and I think I do to. Its possible we may have it locked a majority of the time but at least it is there if at some point we want to use it, we dont plan on getting other bikes for a long time. Depending on the tires we may get wider ones after we wear the first set out (dont know how long that will be)

We called the shop we went to and we are going in on Saturday to ride some and ask a few questions just to be sure. If we end up ordering them the shop owner said if something happens and we are unhappy he will put them in his stock and let us choose or order anything else with a full credit. They were really helpfull there and its very convienient location for us if we ever need anything and they give you one $90 future tune up for free.

Nice that sounds almost too good to be true, once you take the bike home and ride it normally there's no turning back from there. Thats good you will be trying some out. Hard to tell on short test ride sometimes though. Try to get the bike on similar terrain you plan on riding. Make sure you can comfortably reach bars while in a riding position.

Well yeah, we wont be able to take them home, just test them out when they come in.
I checked the other places in town that would be a retailer for Giant and they were all on the other side of town, so if he will order them in without obligation of taking them home it's much easier. We will just have to try something similar on saturday, but I dont see how much we can really ride them since there is only pavement unless you go outside of the city.

I'm not sure what else we can do to check them out. Unless we really hate something about riding them we dont have much to compair to since we have been non-riders for so many years. It's hard to imagine not breaking them in and loving them though, its such a huge upgrade from buying a $200 bike from craisglist or whatever like we first thought. Good greif, Soooo glad we decided not to do that. At least you get smarter with age.....

If you have other suggestions though I'm totaly open to hearing them.

Make sure the bars and saddle are set up at least really close to correct for you. Ride up and down curbs. Bounce up and down. Do S-turns and panic stops. Ride standing and sitting. I don't have a clue.

You should be open to other brand if there is anything else around. I've found giants too be slightly bigger for me when I was shopping for hybrid ended up with fx over the escape. Just pick what type of bike and sure enough every other brand will make an almost exact one with a little different fit and ride.

But as long as it's comfortable on what you plan to do on it. To certain extent anyways, exercise is exercise not always easy. But things are as comfortable as they can be. You use your arms alot more then you realize while cycling for fitness to take tension off of the rest of the body.

They did say they would make sure that they were sized correctly for us.
So what would you all normaly do before you get a new bicycle? How do you "ride" it when you cant really go somewhere?
Can you guys give me some other makes that are comprable? We have researched the Treck and the Giants mostly everything else is foreign...

I should also point out that I seriously have not owned a bike since I was about 10. Dont Laugh... I got on one about 10 years ago and I could still ride (I guess the saying is true) even though my friend failed to tell me there were no brakes... that was fun. But yeah, I will be taking it easy on whatever I try.

Hm sounds like some girl I saw in florida I was taking a hike and she came flying around the corner and off the pathway. Be careful biking can be dangerous you have to be constantly watching out and expect unexpected. Save some money for good helmet.

They won't let you leave the parking lot on test ride? that would be hard to tell much.. isn't there some similar older bike they would let you take just get the feel of it? Bike shops around here talk ppl into taking the bikes out.

Not sure if I understand the question

Don't worry we're getting helmets and I won't be going anywhere untill I ride up and down my block and am comfortable. There a nice big park up the street to, very little to no traffic on my street.
I'm very conservative when it comes to the possibility of injuring myself... That's why I won't really be able to do much test riding but hop on and do a little spin. I'm sure I can turn and stop and stand up just fine but will be pretty easy about it. I don't know maybe I'm not giving myself enough credit but I'm just going to be really careful at first.

Bikingtown, this is what I meant by can't ride it. I don't know honestly I did not ask I just assumed that if you need to test something they won't let you drive off with it to an ideal location. There is a very large (huge) parking lot in the complex we could certainly take a spin around at least 1/4 mile to get around the whole shopping center but the streets are too busy I'm not going out there.
What would you do? I don't know what is the standard expectation a consumer has to test ride or what is the general rule of bike shops?
To be fair on our first trip we were just starting to get info and not interested in riding anything yet so it didn't come up.

Don't overthink it. If there's a big parking lot around, that's sufficient for your initial test ride. You're trying to get a general sense of fit, ride and comfort. Since it's been so long since you've ridden, you're not going to feel nuances that more experienced riders will on a test ride. No big deal. Does the bike fit? Do you feel like you'll enjoy riding it for awhile? That's all you need to worry about. Oh, the saddles gonna be uncomfortable. Don't worry about that. You will need to get used to it after riding awhile and THEN determine whether you need a different saddle.

And don't worry about looking at other makes. You like the Giants and the LBS will help with fit. They're good bikes. The fact that they've given a full credit guarantee is great if you decide they're not the bikes for you. It will be better to stick with the choice you've made, actually get the bikes, and start riding than to bog yourself down another few weeks researching other makes and models again.

Kona, Specialized, Cannondale, Jamis, Raleigh, Bianchi, Fuji, Surly, Salsa, Fairdale, KHS, All City. This is not an exhaustive list.

Lots of quality brands. I don't own a Giant, but do recommend them as quality bikes. My wife rides a Jamis. She also has a Trek but prefers the Jamis. My son rides a Kona mountain bike. I own a Salsa, a Bianchi, and a Trek. The Salsa is my favorite, but I don't think Salsa makes any bikes in your price range.

One small secret is that there is almost no difference between each manufacturer at each price point.

An entry-level hybrid from almost any reputable manufacturer will be almost identical. They have the same budgets, the same component and manufacturing costs, the same shipping and sales costs .... Giant makes most of the frames for several manufacturers, and a couple other huge factories make the rest.

Some will offer a little bit more somewhere and less elsewhere---maybe the wheels, or the rear derailleur, or the cockpit parts will have a couple flashy names and some other part will be a little cheaper but overall, they are all the same.

Giant has a reputation for offering decent frames and Slightly better value---same gear, marginally lower prices---at some price points. Not at all of them.

That's why so many people will tell you pick a shop, not a brand---the shops vary a lot, the brands hardly at all.

If you like the Giants ... and you pretty much know the competition only varies in paint scheme and decal placement ... don't kill yourselves trying to see a dozen different iterations of exactly the same thing.

The majority of riding is the rider. Don't tell the multi-million dollar bike marketing industry, but if you like to ride, you can like riding almost anything, and the most expensive, exotic, high-tech bike in the world is a doorstop if you don't like riding.

Buy your Giants. Everyone here including myself can Absolutely, Positively, Without Equivocation Assure you that they are the best bikes you could buy. Unless you buy something else---in which case those bikes will be the Absolute ... etc.

So ... once you buy them, never think about it again. Just go ride.

This thread has been entertaining!!!!

Not much to say here but congrats on the new bikes and get off the computer and ride!!!!

The NEX suspension isn't all that bad, a bit heavy but is nice at times. Especially nice on canal trails that are not very well groomed like the C & O in MD.

Thank you, that's kind of our rational. Just getting into riding I think any $400+ dollar bike is going to be like a dream bike for me, as long as it fits my needs and is the right size I'm not going to know the difference. I figured if we hate them for some strange reason they have a whole catalog of other stuff we can start over.