I'm still intending to get the Giant Escape 2 City Disc unless the bike shop can steer me in another direction. Some of the Specialized bikes interested me briefly since they come with 36 spoke rear wheels and 32 spoke front wheels but they would require adding on fenders,kick stand, rack(s). I saved up close to what I need but turns out my tax return should cover it so in about 3 weeks I'm going to hit the bike stores and pull the trigger. I did have the money earlier but was holding off due to weather and then life happened and I had to divert those funds elsewhere but I'm back on track again now. I'm down to 246 as far as weight goes so I think the bike is going to be a better fit for me now than when I originally posted. I'll probably be closer to 240 by then.