Northern California - Bike for San Francisco for Newbie

I'm moving to San Francisco this August to attend SFSU, I won't be bringing a car so I'm hoping to use public transportation and bicycling as my main form of transportation.

I'm looking for a bike that would be easy to ride (including hills), light, and durable. I've only owned a mountain bike, and ridden on flat terrain. I'm really small: Female, 5'2", 95lbs. I want to be able to lift it onto those bus bike racks. Since I'm a student I'm on a tight budget, I'm looking for a bike of <$300. Also willing to look into used bikes.

The smartest thing to do, if you can, is wait until you get here. Bike shops, in general, stock what works for their region, so the easiest thing would be to wait and see what shops in the area recommend and also see what others are riding that might interest you. Also, there are some great bike coop programs here that do restoration of used bikes, which will help you get what you need in your price range. Another option to get more bike for your money is the Marin Bikes Outlet Store, which is in San Francisco (I and friends of mine are very happy customers -- I having saved $700 on a great cyclocross bike and my friend saving $300).

An old hard tail mountain bike should have the gearing for the hills in San Francisco. I don't find anything in hybrids or mountain bikes without suspension that is under $300 new. Trek has the 7000 series hybrid for under $400 new.

I'm moving to San Francisco this August to attend SFSU, I won't be bringing a car so I'm hoping to use public transportation and bicycling as my main form of transportation.

I'm looking for a bike that would be easy to ride (including hills), light, and durable. I've only owned a mountain bike, and ridden on flat terrain. I'm really small: Female, 5'2", 95lbs. I want to be able to lift it onto those bus bike racks. Since I'm a student I'm on a tight budget, I'm looking for a bike of <$300. Also willing to look into used bikes.

Kona Smoke (http://www.konaworld.com/bike.cfm?content=smoke) might suit you fine. At your size, I could see it being a little to heavy if you need to carry it up stairs to a flat. Mojo (http://www.mojobicyclecafe.com/) on Divisadero sells them. The nice thing about going with a new bike is you get the free year of service from most shops, which will save you money on tools or service.

You'd probably fit this.

http://sfbay.craigslist.org/pen/bik/1820141434.html

This one is even better!
http://sfbay.craigslist.org/nby/bik/1823258056.html