So I've been researching potential bikes for college these past couple of days, and I've reached a bit of a predicament. I will be attending the University of Texas at Austin next year, and Austin has quite the bad reputation for bike theft. I don't want to buy a nice, but expensive bike just to have it stolen, but I do want a durable bike suited for Austin's hills as well as just commuting through campus. I also have about a $300 budget.

I've tried looking on Craiglist for a nice, used bike, but I don't know enough about bikes to really make an educated decision on my own. If any of y'all had the time to give me a few tips or even pick out a few good ones (I live in Houston and I'm looking for a ladies bike), that would be just fantastic!

Also, is buying a department store cruiser really that bad? I don't think I'll be getting into any serious biking--just biking around campus and maybe downtown once in awhile.

Thoughts?