Hey everyone! I'm new to this forum, and am hoping the people here are kind and friendly enough to help out a new guy! Well, i'm entering college, which means.. time for a bike to commute with! But the problem is.. i have no idea where to start at in terms of searching for a bike. I'd appreciate it very much if you guys could help me out here and suggest some decent bikes. Here are some qualities i'd like my bike to have:

- Light (well, as light as possible)
- Durable (good enough to last me through college at least)
- Up to around $300
- Looks appealing (nothing ugly, i know it's all preference, but still)
- Fun to ride!

Well, i hope i'm not forgetting to ask anything.. Looking forward to riding my future bike!

Also, forgot to mention one of the biggest things - fixedgear/singlespeed. Honestly, right now i dont really know yet. I know all the common pros/cons of each, but i'd much appreciate if you guys could throw out some pros/cons in case i've missed any and help me lean towards one of them. They are both quite appealing though.

Thanks for all the help, i really appreciate it!

BikesDirect.

Dawes SST.

Light, durable, got me around campus just fine. Comes with a good wheelset, Alex R450's, and has the bullhorns, which I prefer. Also comes SS/Fixed so you can choose, though I like riding fixed, just because of feel. I've beaten the living crap out of mine, riding it around, locking it up, and just general ride and it looks fine w/ all the scratches.

Other popular choices include the Mercier Kilo TT, Windsor Clockwork, Craigslist Conversion.

Just got my motobecane track from bikesdirect. It's $279
I'm liking it alot so far, with the few tweeks I have done to it.

Yep, as mentioned above BikesDirect is your best bet if you can only spend upto $300. Their parts are not the best, but they'll work fine. If its < $300, I recommend the Clockwork.

Also with $300, if you know what you are doing, you could score a very nice vintage road bike with some nice parts on it.

Thanks for all the suggestions everyone! Yeah, chances are that i will order from bikesdirect.com. And i would try to find a vintage road bike just to see what i could get, but i know practically nothing soo i guess that's not an option. Hahah. Also, are all those bikes pretty much the same weight? Maybe i'm missing it, but bikesdirect.com doesn't show the weights of each bike! :/

Most of the bikes on BikesDirect is +/- 20 pounds, they're light enough considering how cheap the bikes are.

Fpr $300 and under your only looking at bikes direct bikes.

if you don't really know what u're doing, don't look at road bikes to convert. Coz either u'll be spending money for labor converting parts for you, or you need to buy tools to use. BD is a better bet, IMO. And plus you get to ride it immediately!