Originally Posted by iBarna
You should be able to get nice used roadies for $2-300 at your LBS.
Or go to the thrift store, spend like $10 and maybe as much as $50 fixing it up. My daily use bike I actually got for free - someone had cleaned out their garage, and put it and another one on the curb with the trash, with a "Free" sign on it. I grabbed them quick before the trash man came! I spent I think $40 for a new freewheel/cassette and chain, and it was ready to go!