tex88

I bought the Giant Escape 2 (2018), a few days ago, acting more on spontaneity than good research.
But I couldn't help myself, and yesterday looked at the 2018 Trek FX 2 and Trek FX 3.
And now I'm unsure which bike is best for me.

This is my first bike in over 20 years, so I have little riding experience. I plan to ride mostly ride for recreation (with my 3rd-grade kid), and mostly on pavement, but hopefully some fun but easy dirt paths too. No commuting, no rain, nothing extreme, and not super often.

The Escape 2 and FX 2 seem very similar, but ...

Giant Escape 2 ($450)
+ has internal cables
+ has nicer color
+ has slightly better grips

Trek FX 2 ($410, yes on sale)
+ is slightly cheaper
+ has slightly wider tires (35 vs 32) -- more comfort??
+ has slightly better Rear Deraileur and Shifter (Acera vs Altus) -- but would a newbie really notice??

Trek FX 3 ($550, yes on sale)
+ has amazing Grips
+ has a Carbon Fork -- more comfortable??
+ has 2x better components -- Rear-Deraileur (Alivio vs Altus), Front-Deraileur (Acera vs Tourney), Shifter (EF65 vs M310), and Cassette (HG20 vs HG31) -- but would a newbie really notice??
. has same tire width (32)
. has great color too
- has external cables
- costs $100 more


So mainly..
- Would the better components of the Trek bikes be hard for me as a newbie to appreciate, and overkill for the fairly light use the bike will get?
- Would a Carbon Fork notably soften the bumps?

Thanks for any insight!