I just traded a backpack that I paid $25 for to get a '91 Cannondale 3.0 road bike. It's light, it's fast and it's awesome. Took a couple tweakings to get the derailleurs shifting 100% again, and a few minutes of cleaning, but it's an awesome machine.

You can find great bikes like that. If you have a good shop, go in and get a rundown on what it would cost to have them build you a singlespeed with bargain basement parts and a Goodwill frame. Go to Goodwill and get said frame.

Check out www.irofixedgear.com and look at the Rob Roy. It's in the mid of your price range, but can take fenders and a rack if you like, comes with great components and can take BIG tires for snow and ice (or studs) for when you get to college. Plus it's a badass bike, cyclocross specific so it can ride fast like a road bike, but can take curbs in stride!

Honestly, if I were you I would just get the IRO Rob Roy and call it a day. You might be able to find one in a shop or just order one.

As for safety...everyone I know is scared of it, too, but I think it can easily be safer than driving. As for your dad, tell him it's cheaper than a car, healthier than a car, and that you'll take trails/sidewalks everywhere you go. If you're on sidewalks you're in just as much danger as you would be walking!

Get a nice helmet, get 3M Scotchlite reflective tape and put it all over, and get a nice rear light like a Planet Bike Superblinky. I got a Sigma headlight for $18 at REI.

I dunno about you and your friends, but my friends thought my reflective construction shirt was kinda dope. I think a big reason why was that I stole it from a construction site in highschool, so it had some outlaw spirit, but even so I didn't look like a boob riding in a $100 jacket (which I now have). They can be had for super cheap, like $10 online. Just google "safety vest" or "ANSI safety vest."

If you get decked out and put your safety on the forefront your dad will respect your maturity and give you more freedom.

It's the gung-ho confidence that dad's get scared of.

Maybe take him on a ride in the car on where you plan on travelling most. Just show him the route and go through a brainstorm of what the safest path would be to get there. It's good quality time that might suck for you, but will make him feel great about his relationship with you and will give him a hands on feel for what your life is like.

If he bites, when you do ride make sure you give him blow by blow reports of your commutes. "Oh, man, it was really cool today, there was a car wreck on the other side of the road and three people died. I safely took the sidewalk and avoided the cagers..." Just kidding, of course, but taking pictures of your rides, however short, and showing him will make him feel connected and in some control, even if it's an illusion.

Get the gear and make him feel good. Let him know you take your safety seriously.

And take a look at the Rob Roy, it's a sweet ass bike, man.