Hey all,

I am looking to buy a decent bike to start commuting and riding for fun. I live in rural Tennessee where there are lots of hills and everything is fairly far away. I want a bike that is going to be easy and comfortable to ride, that will go fast enough to get me from place to place fairly quickly. I also want something fairly sturdy and durable. Something like a steel frame touring bike would be ideal, but I don't think I have the budget for it.

I have a pretty limited budget (~$500 total, so I want a cheaper bike to have room to buy extras), but I am ok looking for something used. It doesn't have to be nice and shiny, and it doesn't have to be race-worthy. I checked with my LBS, but they carry mostly mountain bike. I might be able to find another Bike Shop in Knoxville, but I usually only go there on weekends.

However, I am pretty nervous about buying a bike on Craigslist, because I don't really know what is a "good deal." I don't have any friends that would know enough about bikes to go with me to look at it and tell me.

Any tips?

Here are some of the options I have found, and I would love it if some people could give their opinion on the value of these bikes. I am also going to visit Madison soon, so I looked on their Craiglist as well. I am looking for a ~53 cm frame.

http://knoxville.craigslist.org/bik/3591412557.html

http://knoxville.craigslist.org/bik/3569181138.html

http://madison.craigslist.org/bik/3624744642.html

http://madison.craigslist.org/bik/3606119766.html

Thanks!