I have purchased 3 Giant bikes in the past few years. They are a little less $$$ than a Trek for about the same quality/performance IMO. I bought one for the Wife first and she just loves it. The teenager would grab hers and horse around on it frequently so we got one for him now. The 11 yr old inherited his older brothers Giant Stiletto (chopper style) bike. Now I have one for everyone in the family except me. I am still on my Schwin hybrid from the late 80's. It is one of the original Schwin bikes before the company sold out and it still performs great so I just keep riding it. Gum wall tires and all.
Giant is worth a look.
-Mark.