Question on a Bike, is it good or not?

[Matt]

First I would like to say that I'm a 5'10" 229lb 32yr old man, that is trying to get back into shape. I choose cycling as my means of doing so. This will be my second year. My question is: I got a Dawes Lightning DT. I brought it to my local bike shop to get a tune up. As soon as this long haired kid, that looked like he was upset that he missed the 80's, looked at it he said "I don't even want to touch it. It's a death trap." I asked him why. The only reason he could give me was that it was the type of bike you would by at a department store. Mind you that I bought a road bike from Walmart last year and took it to the same place and spoke with a different, older, guy and had no problem getting the tune up done. Does anyone know anything about Dawes Bikes? I looked on the interent and found that they were made in the UK. The one I have was made in the USA by a company that bought the name. I really would like to get into cycling. I did the BikeMS City to Shore last year and plan on doing it again this year. I'm just a beginner and don't want to spend 1,000's of dollars on a bike right now. I want to get a little more into shape and into cycling before I make that kind of purchase. It's just that this kid sounded like he was trying to push me away from the sport. Even though it didn't look like he did any cycling himself. I chose cycling because, every cyclist I spoke/ speak to treats you like family, no matter how experienced you are. It's like a brother/sisterhood. I figured that is what I want to be a part of not only when I'm trying to get back into shape but long after I'm in shape. Please I would like some feedback? Should I just take what this kid said with a grain of salt and just find another bike shop to do the rest of my business with?