Bicycle suggestions?
 

I hope these are alright, not entirely sure. Didn't see a rule against them, and a search showed others in the past asking for suggestions. SO here it is:

Alrighty. So, i'm looking for a new bike, and don't know what would really work for me. My old bike is/was a '04 HardRock Sport. Basically, about 3 months ago I got hit by a car. Not too badly, the woman was pulling out of a parking lot a bit too fast and didn't stop to look both ways. She drove off before I could say anything, and my head hurt too much for me to think of writing down her plates. Go me. :rolleyes: So yeah, got the bike checked out, and the damage was as follows: frame bent near the welding for the top tube, slightly bent crank, bent back wheel, bent front AND rear derailer, bent cassett, bent chainwheel, etc etc. Took it to a local bike shop, he fixed it up as good as he could, and quoted me the price to replace the messed up parts. I opted out on the replacements because of the frame being bent the way it was (i never trusted dents on the welds). So yeah, for the last 4 months i've been riding with a gimped bike, and now I have some money coming in, and i'd like to replace it.

My budget is around $600. I'm not a super serious rider. I ride mostly to get around town(school, work, friends, etc), and for some fun during the summer(i'm surrounded by big hills, how could I not. >.>). And like I said, I don't know what type of bike would be good for me. Not really looking for another mountain bike, because I don't do trails like I use to, but I want something that can take good amount of wear.

I'm a bit overweight (240), and i'm usually carrying a bunch of extra weight on my back and in my hands (guitar and practice amp, about 20-30 total?), so that'd also have to factor in. I'm not entirely new to bikes (I've taken a building class, and use to work at a shop for parts(yay slave labor!)), so maintenence should be easy enough.

So yeah....that's a lot of writing just to ask "what kind of bikes should I keep my eye out for when I go to the local shops on thursday".