I'm here at the University of Oregon in Eugene, where my daughter might end up for college. Lots of bikes here. I'm thinking about what sort of bike I'd send with her to school if she goes here.

The requirements:
- Easy to ride in town with normal clothes/shoes, the terrain is flat and roads are decent, typical ride would be 1 to 3 miles.
- Able to carry a heavy school backpack, not using panniers or other specific bike luggage
- Tolerant of sitting outside in the rain for days or weeks.
- Well lit and reflective, so that a college kid wearing dark clothing, who won't remember to charge batteries, will be seen
- Survives with absolutely zero maintenance or attention beyond an annual tuneup at a local bike shop
- Not a theft magnet, it will be U locked and should live in the key card bike corral most nights but will be locked at random racks around campus/town all day and might be left there overnight
- I seriously doubt it will ever go on "fun rides" or group rides or do anything but utility cycling, though I can always hope

The bikes we have that I could use as a starting point are (1) '90s "LL Bean" rigid MTB (this is a rebadged Specialized Hardrock with Gripshifts), (2) Dahon folding bike w/ 8 speed RD and fenders/small rear rack, (3) Peugeot UO-8 with VO porteur rack and VO fenders, MA40 rims, inline brake levers. Except as mentioned the bikes are otherwise stock.

What would you do? I could add plastic fenders and rack w/ big folding wire basket, city tires w/ reflective sidewalls to the MTB. Or wire basket to the Dahon. Or send the UO-8, maybe with upright bars instead of the drops. For lighting, I was thinking a generator hub and front/rear lights set to be "on" all the time, or a bottle generator with lights, or inexpensive clip-on lights that could be replaced cheaply after they are stolen. Maybe remove the toeclips and use rubber platform pedals, and stick on plenty of reflective tape. I could replace the geared drivetrains with single speed.