Thanks habernac. I should note, that I've listened to people from both sides of the fence of buying from a bike shop (trained technicians, bikes of higher quality no doubt) to going to a general sporting goods store (technicians may or may not be trained, paid per bike, not as much quality selection).
What we've kind of deduced is that a 'higher end' brand from Sport Chek would still be sufficient, and we would take it to a bike shop to get tuned up after buying (this was suggested to us actually by the sales guy at the bike shop here). We did ask about latest sales at the bike shop, and they said they weren't planning on any more sales this year, and that the lowest they would go was 10% less.
I guess it's hard to swallow because we had 150 dollar bikes as kids, and now are looking at buying more expensive ones. We are of the mindset though that we don't want to be regretting our purchase a couple years from now. While we understand there will be annual services etc, we aren't avid cyclists by any stretch.
Edit: Thanks Northendzone and dubc80 for the advice too!
Keep it coming please !
