Originally Posted by
gparvan
I believe the bike you are looking at will work, but you will have maintenance issues frequently.
How about we ask you a few questions:
1. what is your target budget, and your absolute max expenditure? (you need a helmet too)
2. Given your commute mileage, how many miles per week do expect to log? (read weekend adventures)
3. What is the nearest major city?
Here in Seattle we have a cool shop that specializes in used bikes. They carry new too, but...
http://www.recycledcycles.com/sales.php
Not sure where you live, but you might look for a shop like the above.
1. Not over $200. I bought a Bell helmet for $40, a pump for $10, and a lock for $20 already.
2. 10-15. I expect to bike to/from work most days, but not if the weather is bad or I don't feel like it (probably 80% of the time except in the winter and then not at all). I expect probably 1 weekend a month we'll go biking at a local park with a nice flat bike trail along the river. Maybe every 2 weekends or so I'll take the kids around the neighborhood for a few blocks. So not much!
3. My city has 300,000 people in it, Dallas is about 5 hours away.