Originally Posted by ragnarok5987
thanx guys, and hey, im still a university student who only works once a week with almost minimum wage, so that's all the income that i have, so i'll have to stick with cheap bikes. I live in toronto and i'm planning on using it to commute to campus and work for the summer and fall. the round trip is around 5 miles. i appreciate ur warning though ZachS
you're welcome!
If you're in a big city like toronto, there is no reason whatsoever to get one of those bikes you're looking at... and as bad as those cheap FS (full suspension) bikes are off-road, they're even worse for commuting. you might want to think about not getting a mountain bike at all... they need a lot of modifications before they're really suitable for commuting.
here are some better bikes i found in a few minutes on craigslist:
http://toronto.craigslist.org/bik/152232775.html
http://toronto.craigslist.org/bik/152165728.html
http://toronto.craigslist.org/bik/152057997.html
http://toronto.craigslist.org/bik/151993641.html <-------- a VERY good one
http://toronto.craigslist.org/bik/151985246.html
http://toronto.craigslist.org/bik/151811590.html
http://toronto.craigslist.org/bik/151718534.html
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.
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anyway, you get the idea. if you're willing to wait a little while, and have other places to look, you'll be able to get a better deal than those.
what I would REALLY recommend is posting in
THIS THREAD and asking the locals for help... you might end up with a bike very different than what you think you want now, but they could definitely help you find something good within your budget that would be perfect for getting to campus and back.
Zach