Hey everyone, It has been a while since I have visited the site. I hope everyone had pleasant holiday experiences. I am buying a bike for my girlfriend (went through a divorce this year ) and it has proven to be a task, she is 5'1 and 1/2

I am trying to decide between 3 bikes around the same price point from 3 manufacturers. I do not know if there is a significant difference other than perhaps personal preference once they are ridden. I have found the Specialized Vita, trek 7.2FX, and the Giant Escape 3. Is there any major difference between them? I almost forgot, she will mostly ride on flatter surfaces, roads, paved pathways, and compacted dirt areas until shes more comfortable.Any help would be much appreciated.

My advice is do not choose for her. Let her and only her choose.
Story time...
My friend's wife wanted a minivelo, so as a surprise he went off to get her a bike. Now sadly he believed it wasn't what she should use and he believed the local Trek shop was his best option.
He got excited in the shop and bought two Trek Marlins, as he thought it would look cute riding together on weekends. He even had the shop swap out the tyres to road tyres. Great hey?
WRONG!!
He took the bikes home and a huge fight developed. The bike was put in the spare bedroom, and he was sent off to buy the bike SHE wanted. After a year the Marlin was still sitting in the room untouched.
Now lucky for me, I was after a nice bike for commuting and trails. As she hated the sight of this bike, she told him to give it to me free of charge.
So beware, relying on instinct and forum advice, could be an expensive mistake.

I agree with giantcfr1. Let her get what she wants. My wife doesn't really care what the specs or price of her bike is... she just wants it to "Look Cute". You can't win.

Thank you Giantcfr1 and takingmytime. We went to 3 local bike stores today and she ended up choosing the Trek 7.2 WSD. It was last years model so we did receive a decent discount. Like your wife takingmytime she doesn't care about the specs of the bike...I just want her to feel like she can comfortably keep pace with me on my road bike....eventually my hope is to get her on a road bike