Good to see you're back on the (inline) skates!

With respect to affordable bikes: I'm not really up to date on the trekking bikes (which sounds like what you're looking for) of ATB's. In general, the thing that makes bikes expensive (but also much more comfortable) is the "group" of shifters/chains that is on it. It might be better to find a second hand bike with a better quality group rather than a new one with a worse one. Not sure how the second hand market is doing right now, though...