I'll second micks sentiments and that Boardmans bike is not too pricey depending on model. I got mine through my works cycle2work scheme and for the route I take its near perfect. Some hilly sections, all road/pavement and the hybrid set works well. A bit of speed (although on some of the downhills i could use an extra cog or two).
I have started cycling every day i can to work now to lose weight and have shed a stone so far, also i have started using an app called Strava which i find great for competing against myself and seeing times fall. I have only been using it about a week and some segments i am around 10 secs quicker for about a half mile distance
