Hmm, I never knew that about Firehouse Bicycles - that they were a co-op. I know that Philly is a high theft area; someone had stolen my quick-release seat while it was locked to my porch over the summer. Needless to say, I replaced it with a bolted-down one, but I'm still looking for something more for the long term for the future. I have nothing against a cheap mountain bike. I'm just afraid of it failing all of a sudden. For instance, the bolt securing the left crank all of a sudden came off. That was a bad surprise... I fixed it by putting the bolt back on using a socket wrench.

I guess I'll look around some more in the mean time. What I'm really tired of is not knowing about bikes in general. I really want to learn more about bikes in terms of (1) maintenance -- fixing everything, (2) parts -- how to recognize what parts are good and what parts are bad, (3) deals -- what constitutes a good deal in terms of price and what doesn't, and (4) brands and types -- what brands are good and what types of bikes to go for and for what purposes. Are there websites that I can goto in order to learn or any particular books I should get? Thanks again for all the replies...