Hello everyone, good to see there is a strong Toronto presence on these forums. I'm going to be moving to Toronto from Aurora (north of richmondhill, south of newmarket) so i can attend Central Technical School's intensive art program for my last year of highschool and I'm frantically trying to figure out what im going to do about getting a bike together for riding downtown (ill be living on Bathurst in the annex). Currently I have a Kona Cindercone (i believe its a 2004) that up until recently i used for trail riding as well as riding around town (bike thieves aren't a problem in my little town) but i received an old CCM Targa road bike from a freind for free so i've been riding that to get places though its in very very poor condition. Basically I dont want the ride the Kona in Toronto because its a prime target for bike thieves and I dont want to ride the CCM because its hazard in its current state and it feels a little small. Im probably gonna try to sell the Kona (anyone interested, eh, eh?) so i have some cash to spend on my new city bike but basically i wanna spend around 300 - 350 and get a reliable but simple road bike with bullhorn handle bars, single gear in the front and either single speed in the rear or a cheap rear derailleur (not comfortable riding a fixie downtown... yet). So thats pretty much it, I've looked at my LBS and i know i cant afford there road bikes plus they would major thief magnets and i talked with Igor (guy on queen st. w.) and he said he could build me a bike but i just read some bad things about him soooo yeah im looking for whatever advice you guys can throw at me as to where i can find this bike. Im new to the city so any advice you have would be very much appreciated.
Thanks!