Quote Originally Posted by elk View Post

oh and BTW...Mr e HAS a hybrid, a Trek 7000, and he likes it...but doesn;t LOVE it...which is what started all this. sigh. Lookswise, he really should have this:
So... figuring out WHY he doesn't love his hybrid might help pick a good new bike for him? Perhaps his hybrid is old and way heavier than the new hybrids are today? Perhaps it's got heavy/knobby tires that you can change out to zippy sleek ones? ....My DH totally revamped his 10 year old steel Trek Hybrid and it's pretty snappy now. He put new higher gearing for hills on it, Brooks saddle, nice bars, slick tires....

It's best to start picking a bike by first deciding what kind of bike will suit your riding style, the local terrain, what you plan to use the bike for, your riding abilities, and your goals. Eliminate all bikes that don't meet these criteria, no matter how cool they look. That will narrow things down quite a bit. Once you have a certain type of bike in mind, then you can look for ones that look appealing within the criteria you've set out.