[habernac]

Originally Posted by Temporary_User

Anyone care to help me choose a bike? This will be my first bike since I was around 13 and rode BMX.

I started looking thinking $500 would be my budget, but after looking around at quite a few shops yesterday I think I may have to increase my budget a little.

Going around to quite a few shops yesterday, I believe I narrowed my selection down to 3 or 4, but am still open to suggestions.

http://shop.tandl.com/bike/specialized-roll-1-2012/ ($710)
http://road.cc/content/review/38800-kona-paddy-wagon ($750)
http://www.linusbike.com/models/gaston-1/ ($600)
http://www.linusbike.com/models/gaston-3/ ($750)
(don't pay attention to any of the colours on the sites linked)

Essentially I want something I can ride to and from work (all downtown). Along the pathways around town, etc.
Nothing too crazy at this time. Maybe if I like commuting, I will continue during the winter if I can.

did you ride all of them? Take them for a test ride. How long is your commute? Are you sure a singlespeed is the way you want to go? If you haven't ridden a lot lately and you have some hills to deal with, singlespeeds might be a bit of a nightmare. Excellent in that they're low maintenance though.