Hi, I'm new to the forum and to bike riding. I'm looking to buy my first bike in over 20 years. I'm 35 yrs old, 5'2, and out of shape, and I want to rid for fitness, leisure, and commuting in a suburban area with some hills.

Today I went around to LBSs and tested out three bikes. They all felt the same and are around the same price (within about $60). I've looked at the specs online and that only made things more confusing. Can anyone help me make sense of the jargon?

These are the three bikes:
Norco VFR 4
Norco Indie 4
Trek 7.2 WSD

Any suggestions? Opinions?

Of the three models you mentioned, I can unhesitatingly recommend the Trek. I don't personally know very much about the Norco brand. That doesn't mean it's not good, I'm just not very familiar with it.

Specs are all pretty equal, no big advantage to any of the bikes. The Norco Indie 4 has what may be one advantage depending on your area. Do you ride in bad weather? If you do, then the Indie 4 has disc brakes which would be a huge bonus for wet weather riding..

You say they all rode the same.. Did one feel more comfortable than the others?

I found them at three different stores so it was difficult to compare comfort. From memory, they all seemed pretty good. In terms of weather, we get too much snow and ice to use the bike in the winters, and the rest of the year is dry, humid, or rainy.

The disc brakes on the Indie 4 will be a huge benefit for riding in rain / wet weather..

Yup. I'd go for the Norco Indie 4. I can't think of not having a bike without disc brakes.

Norco is a biggie here in Canada, comparable to Treks in the US. I have tried the Indie and quite liked it. Disk brakes are great. I find the modulation really linear on my BB7S Road brakes on my Salsa Vaya.

Thanks, I ended up buying the Norco Indie 4! I'm loving it so far.

Great! Remember, pictures or it didn't happen.

Do you like the disc brakes? I tried a Trek 7.2 that had the same mechanical disc brakes and I really had to squeeze to get the bike to stop.

Norco bikes are sold in Australia and they seem to be a quality brand, but what puts me off them is that we also have a Dairy Producer called Norco that puts out milk and ice creams under the Norco name, even though it has nothing to do with the company behind the bikes.

So for that reason, in Australia they are seriously lacking in the coolness factor.