I don't know... $300 is a lot of money when spent on a BSO. My wife and I have gotten a lot of miles out of our BSO tandem and that was less than $300 from Wal-Mart. $90! Can get you a serviceable BSO from a box-store. $300 gets you a bicycle that one should be able to use for commuting as a newbie in Florida. I mean... in FL you can save tons by going 1X8 or even SS. The Schwinn Protege/Varsity should fall into the $300 bracket and to my eyes looks a lot better than the Denali. I am not encouraged by the bikes I see on CL. I do, however, think that there are LBS's that can offer a bike, new or used for $300 and stand behind it.

H