looking for a cheap commuter type bicycle...

https://www.walmart.com/ip/26999376?w...844956&veh=sem

Only if you're mechanically inclined or somewhat skilled in bicycle mechanics. This should NOT be your first choice. It would be better to look for an old 80's or 90's steel road bike, or rigid steel forked mountain bike.

I will second the idea of buying a quality used bike over a new department store bike. Commuting is much more fun/efficient when everything on the bike actually works properly.

Third vote for this.

In addition to this, does the above bike have rack or fender mounts? While not strictly necessary for commuting, they are nice.

I'll play devils advocate while I'm at it, a friend of mine who is semi bike mechanics knowledgeable picked up another BSO Schwinn at this same price point a few years ago and he loves it, he did however modify the crap out of it.

In the sense that you could ride it to work and back, yes. If I had to to lock it up on the sidewalk, I might consider something like this but treat it as disposable.

Id like to hear more about this...

What's wrong with using your Trek 7100, a hybrid I presume?

I have had some problems with it...

I don't think your serious.. but I shall grant your request. I can't find any of his crazy pics atm, this is mostly stock I believe.

Found one:
Bikes current cockpit

ok, just curious but aside from the handlebar change... was he still using the original components or did he replace them?

I believe drivetrain itself is original.

it'll work fine as a first commuter, and eventually you'll get a better bike.

They don't specify the frame size so it might not fit you.

yeah... probably end up with this
https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...w_xii_2100.jpg

or this looks nice too:

https://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...fe_latte_x.htm

I noticed that both your Bikes Direct choices had adjustable stems, and I know the Schwinn doesn't. May serve you better getting a nicer fit. The WM Schwinn Varsity comes in ONE size, made to fit about the average 5'9" male.

If you HAVE to shop at WM, this is about as good as it gets; it's a roll of the dice whether or not it's assembled with ANY skill, or if it even comes out of the box with any quality.

As long as you're willing to make some adjustments, it should very easily be able to be used as a commuter I just did a century ride locally known as the Levi ride and I wasn't the quickest but the bike pulled through pretty easily. I was on a very similar schwinn, the OR2.

To my eyes, this is about the best as a commuter. It looks to be equipped about the same as my Trek 7.2FX which is a good if not particularly inspiring commuter. Also important is that it has luggage rack mounts, for the rear at least. I hate carrying stuff on my back while biking in general so a luggage rack is a must. That alone would have me considering it over the others.

On the other hand, if you do have a Trek 7100 it probably has a lot of the nice frame features already. You say it is causing you problems, if it vexes you have you ever taken it to a professional to look over? Even if you end up sinking $150-200 into it, you'll have a running bike that's a known quantity for less than any of the above bikes.

the Trek 7100 is somewhat of a long story... but if you are interested:

I bought the trek about 8-9 years ago and started riding for fitness, seemed after about 5 rides
I would have to bring the bike back due to the rear wheel going out of true (which would happen during the ride).
they bike shop told me it was because I am a large guy (which I was) and because of the more upright riding
posture compared to a road bike (ram horn handlebar type). so at this time, I did find this seller on ebay that
was selling some of the bikes direct type of bikes (dawes), so I bought that (actually for less than the trek) with
some skepticism but the seller had good reviews...

so I have owned them about the same amount of time, I have about 500 miles on the trek and I have about 2000
(fitness riding) miles on the dawes. While I have had to true the wheels on both bikes, the dawes wheels seem almost bomb proof
as I have ridden that through pot holes with no problems. the Trek, I hit a stone on the road about 1/4 inch diameter
and the spoke bent such that my wheel started to rub (didn't have replacement spokes) so I forced it through for
about 4 miles to get to my car (it was in the shop). Also, it seems that the Trek was much heavier and after riding the road bike
I really wasn't happy with the lack of pep with the trek. So I haven't ridden the trek since (except I do have it hooked to my trainer).

One thing I can say about the trek is that I really like the v brake setup which I find is better than the typical
road bike caliper brakes even with kool stop pads.
so the Trek vexes me and I just haven't truly figured out what to do with it...

have you sought help in a bike-shop to solve those?

they eventually said that they could get a stronger rear wheel for it that would originally have been used on a tandem I believe but at that point, I was enjoying riding on the road bike that I had received and couldn't imagine that even fixing the wheel would give me a peppier ride so I figured I would come back to it when I got a bit lighter... maybe even avoid having to replace the wheel... now, I am 80 lbs lighter (still have lbs to go...) but I guess I have a bad taste in my mouth when I ponder riding it...

Sounds like you are a large fellow like me. On my Trek hybrid, the rear wheel could not really handle my girth so well. Broke a spoke and fixed it, broke another spoke and bought a new 36-spoke Handspun wheel. The new wheel has been rock-solid. A matched set of Handspun wheels for your Trek will cost about as much as the Walmart bike above, but if you really are that tough on bikes the wheels on any of the above bikes are probably gambles as well. And having some heavy duty wheels may slow you down too I suppose, but that's the tradeoff when you're a big dude.

On the other hand, if you like your Dawes there's no reason you can't just commute on that, right?

Yes, it will work.

Advice: before using it to commute, replace or have a shop replace the rubber rim strip for quality cloth rim tape. Get at least one replacement tube from the department store where you buy it and make sure that tube has a long enough stem for your application--you will need extended stems for those wheels.