Thanks again so much everyone! You guys have no idea how helpful all the advice and information that I'm getting from this forum is.

So yeah, it definitely makes choosing a bike much easier knowing that for the most part the quality for most bikes around a certain price range is relatively similar.

****, I had no idea that REI was a bike shop worth checking out. I was just in that area and saw that place but didn't know that it was a bike place. I saw that they had bikes but dismissed as being some kind of EMS type place that happened to have some bikes as well. I'll try and stop by if I have time tomorrow. But yeah, that warranty policy sounds very tempting. But are they expensive?

Yeah SlimRider, I actually thought the Carpe was quite ugly as well. But I just wasn't sure if that was an important factor that goes into choosing a bike. Its good to know that aesthetics plays a major part in how people choose bikes. I didn't know if it could have been a thing where an ugly bike might be a good bike in terms of quality and performance.

But yeah, I like the simple look of the Felt Brougham (the one I saw at Velo was basically completely black) and the Pure Fix and Phat Cycle bikes.

I don't know the model name of the Phat Cycle. But it was a fixed gear/single speed. I'm assuming it's the "Phixie" as listed on the website, as the other bikes they have on the website looked nothing like the one I rode today.

I definitely like that it is the least expensive of the ones that I am looking at right now. But I don't want to buy it and find all the components breaking on me a few months from now.

The guys at Busy Bee told me that the Phat Cycle bike and the Pure Fix (also a fixed gear/single speed) aren't much different. So I could buy either or.

You know what's weird, I don't remember any of the bikes that I saw today having a suspension fork (that is one of those forks that look like they have some kind of spring mechanism in them used for absorbing shock?). But it looks like (at least from the Raleigh website) the Releigh has a suspension fork.

How would a suspension fork apply to urban riding? Or I guess what exactly is it for? To absorb shocks and stuff?

None of the stores had the Jamis Coda Sport.

I'm going to rule out the Trek District S, because its out of my price range.

But I guess I'll try and decide among the Phat Cycle Phixie (I'm assuming that's the bike that I tried today, as it's the only one from the website that looks like the one I rode on), Pure Fix, Raleigh Misceo, and the Felt Brougham.