[Northendzone]

^ i'd go with the GT over that Trek as well mostly because of the better brakes.

so you are going to buy the bike at sportchek, and then go to an LBS and potentially spend anotehr hundie to get it "tuned" up - really cuts into your savings and it is a PITA.

to me the problem with buying low cost excercise gear is that it does not perform that well over the long term, and you get turned off of wanting to use it because of poor performance......

but i get you want to keep your costs down. That GT should be fine, but to me, I'd recommend going to a LBS (local bike shop) and spending a few mroe dollars - in the long term you would likiely not regret it - but only you can say what you cost ceiling is.

You could always buy the bike at sportchek today to take advantage fo teh sale, and then have a look at the LBS over the enxt couple of days to see what your real options are.