Koobazaur

Hey guys, sorry for the long silence, I've gotten really busy with work related stuff! I never heard back from the craigslist guy, so Im guessing someone was faster than me unfortunately :/ In any case, my bike research and purchase have been on a bit of a hold - I'm currently also looking on buying a good DSLR for video (5d or 7d) and thinking of investing the moneys in there. Still, if I got a good deal on a nice hybrid I'd probably snatch it before it gets away again, haha!

erg79

Koobazaur--have you ever heard of Coco's Variety Store? It's a used bike shop in...well, not sure whether to call it Atwater Village, the back side of Silver Lake, or Elysian Park (I saw from your opening post that you're near downtown, so they might be close to you). They're honest about what they have, and what state of use it's in--they have a color tag system for project bikes, for bikes that came in in good shape and got a tune up, and others that were completely overhauled and come with a one-year warranty.

You can usually find some non-suspension 80s/90s mountain bikes that would serve as a good commuter bike there. Most of what they have are the kind of bikes that posters here recommend looking for on Craigslist, but I don't know about other cities, but here in LA most of the Craigslist ads are not bargains at all, and you need to sort through all of the SICK FIXIE!!1! posts and junker bikes that people are looking for $350 for and they don't even know what size it is. Check Coco's blog for updates, and if you bring them some home made food or some fruit or vegetables they'll give you a 10% discount! I know this sounds like an ad, but I swear I don't work for them!

Koobazaur

hey erg, that sounds pretty interesting, I'll have to swing by their place sometime!

ChowChow

I just order my bike from bikedirect.com. It's a 2010 Fuji Absolute 2.0 for only $399. You may want to check it out. For the price, it's a steal.