About to buy a bike. help
 

You are probably fed up with these posts.
But I am looking for a cheaper bike (under $500)
I will be riding it an average of 20-30 miles per day.
Any suggestions?

Yeah...first, you gotta tell people what sort of riding you intend to do.

I guess all-around just.. something good for hilly country areas and cities.

If you are planning to commute to school or work and to shop, you should look for a bike that can accomodate fenders and a rear rack. A mountain bike, hybrid, cyclocross or tour bike might suit your purposes. For hilly areas you want a triple crank (three large cogs next to the pedals) in order to ensure you have low enough gears. I ride a tour bike in summer and a mountain bike part of the winter.

For that amount of distance, something with skinny tires (32, or probably 28, mm or less) will really help.

From there, it's still mostly personal preference combined with your typical riding conditions (hilly, flat, all pavement or some dirt & gravel, in all weather conditions or only on dry days, etc).

If I were to piece together a single do-it-all-and-do-it-year-round bike, it would have:

- drop bars, for the variety of hand positions and the ability to easily tuck out of the wind;
- disc brakes, for good braking in rainy/snowy/slushy/icy weather;
- clearance for knobby or studded tires;
- fender & rack mounts;
- generator-powered lights;
- triple or compact double front crank for climbing when I'm just worn down;

.. and that's about it. Short list, hm? ;)

examples:

miyata + wheels = $425
raleigh = $250
trek 1100 = $375
another miyata
bianchi (no rack/fender mounts)

the list goes on... :)

Getting a good quality used bike will allow you to buy all the accessories you need (fenders, lights, rack, etc) without going over your budget.

Searching is your friend. ;)

I agree with BarracksSi's suggestions, but unless you can find a good deal (or a used bike with them included), disc brakes and a generator hub/lights will probably be out of the question for <$500.

Pretty much any touring style bike should fit your needs quite nicely and you can get an excellent used touring bike for ~$500.

Yeah, that's true; I should've said that it was a wish list of sorts.

+1