Hi Sen,

You certainly gave me no offense. You make good points and I understand what you are saying.

I, too, am only giving my opinion. I've had two mountain bikes before this hybrid (it's pretty beefy) and for the type of riding I do, it's perfect.

It has very good components and a suspension system similar to most mountain bikes (better than my DH's). I paid just under $700 CDN for it at a local bike shop.

You may be better to go for a straight mtn bike if you're pretty sure you will get serious about it. For me, as much as I love to hit the trails, the reality is I need my bike to work in the city too so that I will use it a lot. I can't afford two bikes.

I don't plan to get heavy into technical mountain biking or really advanced stuff. I like a good single track or old logging road with a few exciting patches and some challenging inclines. My DH and I regularly go on rides of 40 km or so and my regular circuits in the city are 25-30 km. So far, the bike is working out great.

The handlebars are a little more upright which I find really comfortable. And it's got the "girl's style" cross bar -- I suspect this might pose a strength frame problem for advanced mountain biking, but like I said I'm more of an intermediate rider.

To each his own! I'm sure there are a lot of dud hybrids out there, but I'm pretty happy with mine.