Wow....I read my post again and I don't even know what I was typing. Perhaps I should try waking up a bit before posting something.

let me try to rephrase that so it makes some sense.

"No matter how good you are with bike maintenance, I think that with Craigslists as an option for good used bikes there are way more viable options than a dept store bike. People on Bike Forums should make these cheap options sound like a good idea."

THat sounds a little better I think. I do see what you are saying about areas with limited access to good used bikes or bike stores however I would still encourage driving whatever distance to get to a good bike store vs. Target or Wal-Mart. (Just my opinion)