Honestly find the bike that fits you as well as your lifestyle the best. I laugh every time that I see someone who has what amounts to an expensive racing bike on the bike path riding a bike with a huge backpack because they don't have the ability to put a rack on the bike.
As for the bikes I am partial to a steel frame in Calgary just because I find they absorb some of the shocks of the road better than an aluminum (and for around 1000 you won't find a carbon frame of any quality).
The tuneups while nice when they are free are often the very basic tuneups that anyone with a working knowledge of the bike can do (tightening brakes was the main thing I have found they have done).
It is also possible to get some great deals in the fall months when people decide they don't want their bikes anymore or whatnot
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