Originally Posted by
Winnie
Functionality, as long as it's not butt ugly. It's not for commuting, so I don't know what to call it. I'll just be riding it daily for fun/exercise.
Don't have anything to convert.
I also don't understand the barspin jokes.
By decent I mean worth the money.
Then I think the U District would serve you well. Its cro-mo and specced with decent parts for a very reasonable price (when I got it it was list at $350, now it looks like $320-30 is the norm). Some in this thread are claiming you can find a Madison for under $400, and if you can that's probably a better ride, but that's also going to be a treasure hunt.
Personally I'd steer clear of bikes direct offerings unless you have a fair bit of bike wrenching know-how, or care to drop another $80 or so for them to build/tune the bike for you, which brings most of their offerings much closer to (if not eclipsing) that $400 mark.