Entry level for the girl
 

She found this as a banner ad somewhere online.

http://www.roadbikeoutlet.com/0featu...gear-bike.html

Anyone have any experience at all? It would only be used for real light commuting, not really any distance rides.

in before the kilo tt

I'm not really sure that that counts.

Anyhow, I would have said Windsor The Hour.

I don't know anything about that bike but it appears to be a perfectly respectable entry level bike. But you will get as good a bike for $280:
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/windsor/thehour.htm

... if her size is there.

Yea, her size is all gone. And part of the site had an ad for bikes starting at $200? I was really hoping that someone here had actually ridden/taken a look or try with one before

There are a surprising number of these kinds of bikes around, that are just reasonable entry level bikes. As long as you aren't paying for a "custom bike" which basically just means somebody throwing a colorful tire on it, most of these bikes seem to be worth it to me. Somebody just asked about the ones at Nashbar. I haven't seen a review of them either.

One thing that I don't understand about the geometry chart is why the down tube on the 58cm is shorter than the downtubes on the smaller ones. It is probably a typo but it isn't a good sign.

This is really a budget thing. She rode mine the other day and really like the simplicity of one gear. She hated having to ride fixed, but when I flipped the wheel around to single for her, she had a blast. So, really, anything will do. And thanks for mentioning nashbar, because I completely forgot about them

Why not have your girlfriend do some research and then figure out what she likes?

A buddy has one, and I've ridden it a couple of times. He has different bars, saddle, and pedals though, but I didnt notice anything wrong with it.

On a side note, its a welcome week, get off these forums and go party...

(my girlfriend goes to central)