Originally Posted by ragnarok5987
icic, wat do u guys think about the raleigh bikes though? or r they just as bad? oh yeah, forgive me for this question, but wat does 21 speed or 18 speed mean?
raleigh has been in business for a billion years and has sold bikes ranging from close to the bottom end of the market to very expensive and specialized race machines. a low-end raleigh probably will be at least marginally better than most of the ones you listed, but I'd have to see more information to tell you for sure.
21 speed = 3 chainrings ('gears') in the front, and 7 cogs in the back
18 speed = 3 chainrings in the front, and 6 cogs in the back.
I'm pretty sure that toronto's a flat city, so all you really need is 1 speed.
some examples of 1 speed bikes:
http://www.fixedgeargallery.com/