I was just wondering if anyone had any opinions on these two bikes? Is the Citizen worth the extra $40.00? I know absolutely nothing about bikes, just that I want to start riding for pleasure/exercise and maybe occasionally to do errands around town. I think the last time I rode a bike on any kind of regular basis I was was 12 years old (And now I'm 33), so you see I have very little knowledge in this area. I did NOT want to spend $400-$500 on a bike since I'm so new to it and the Citizen/Commuter is in the $250-$300 range, but I do want a decent ride. Any advice or input is greatly appreciated. Thanks.

I just looked at two bikes in their web site. It seems there are two main differences. Citizen has suspension fork and front derailleur. Front suspension doesn't make a lot of difference if you stay on the paved road, but additional two small gears(48 vs. 48,38,28) in the front make a big difference, specially if you haven't been on the bike for a long time and you are out of shape. Once you get used to riding your bike, lowest combination(48-34) on Commuter seems to be good enough for most inner city and suburban ride but not anything beyond. But the truth is, that's where the real cycling fun begins. You may want to look into the possibility of longer and variety of gradients rides in the future and the extra gears certainly help.

I would say the difference of $40.- will be worth it.

Thanks so much for responding so quickly. I also think I would like more of the speeds that are available, now that you mention it, because if I do want to start riding a little more on the weekends for fitness, I think it might be nice to have the ability to do more. So thanks for pointing that out to me.