Road bike or Hybrid?

[Yelsel]

Personally, I would recommend at least looking at the Giant hybrids/flat bar road bikes if you end up considering something other than a road bike. Many people like the Trek FX series but I think that the Giant geometry is more road bike and the FX. I could be totally wrong but as I compared the Giant FCR to the FX's (even the 2008s which is what I'm familiar with due to my research) the effective top tubes are longer, the seat/hand angles are bigger, the wheelbase is shorter and so is the chain stay. When I test road the FX I felt scrunched up and I immediately wanted my handlebars further out. It felt closer to being on a cruiser than a road bike. I did test a few road bikes as well so that I could approximate the feel on a hybrid.

So, this is just my experience from the researching and shopping that I did. Hope it helps.

+1 on the Giant flatbars as a more road setup. I consider the Giants to be similar to road flatbars brought out by most manufacturers for those that don't want drop bars, they've just brought them down into the sweet spot price-wise overlapping higher-end hybrids. I've always considered the FX geometry as midway between a typical hybrid and a road bike -- a very sporty hybrid as it were. Not to denigrate the FX line - I have two friends where the FX fit the budget and they love the bikes - this is really the best geometry bike for longer road riding in the $500 range. And it is great for people to have the option of a really nice sporty hybrid configuration at the higher end of the line. People should just know what they're getting is what they want, or something like that.

[Lisa Holman]

Lakerider, do you know the frame size on your new bike?