cycling?

[Chad]

Anyone else here ride bikes? Road, mountain, cruiser, bmx, whatever?
I ride a Giant that looks kind of like this:
http://www.midpacificwheels.com/pics/giant/yukon.jpg
but i got rid of the stock pedals and im kind of displeased with the plastic implements on the shifters since they always break so easily. other than that its a great bike and i can haul ass on it through just about any terrain.
i also have a fixed-gear road bike that i dont ride very much anymore because its not as practical.
but most importantly i do not only ride for sport or exercise, i use bicycles as my primary transportation because its very cheap and allows me to stop whenever i see a friend to talk with him or her in a face to face chat which is pleasant and more intimate than talking on a telephone.

this is how i normally appear for most of the town who would see me
http://img.villagephotos.com/p/2005-5/1008795/DSCF0463.jpg

[hooligan]

I'm actually interested in getting a road bike for a commute, but decent road bikes (I'm looking to invest for at least 5 years in this bike) come around $700.00. Kind of out of my money range, but I guess what I make up in not paying for gas will be worth it? Got any good suggestions? (I think they make 300.00 Treks that are good, but something more solid, yet casual).

[returntosender]

You don't need to spend that much money on a long term bike. I've been riding the same second hand bike for many many years. I've had my bumps and bruises, but the bike is just as sweet as ever.

[Chad]

I don't really recommend road bikes for commuting. They're the fastest bikes but they can't handle bumps and turns like a mountain bike, I find them rather cumbersome and more of a strain to ride. In an urban environment you will probably encounter lots of bumps and sharp turns like I do so I recommend a mountain bike, either Trek, Giant, Gary Fisher, or Specialized, etc. you could get a really decent one in the $300-$500 range depending on how fancy you want to get. The more money you put into it, the better the parts and the longer it will last.
There have actually been some "commuter" bikes designed specifically for that purpose. Some of them are shaft-driven which I found shocking when I first saw one but it actually makes sense in a commuter type of situation because there is typically a lot of stop-n-go. Shaft-driven bikes have the advantage of not having to mess around with a greasy dirty chain or derailleurs, there is a more direct transfer of energy, and they have an internal gear box. The drawback is that they usually don't have the higher gears so if you were out on an open road with no traffic you might find that frustrating becuase your speed is limited. But that wouldn't matter in a crowded city with lots of traffic.
http://www.dynamicbicycles.com/images/parts/bicycle-internal-gear-hub.jpg

What I've done is replaced the mountain tires with slicks and put better pedals on it for speed. I can burn most other mountain riders in town, even the dudes with 1-grand bikes.