I bought my last bike for $200 at a non-profit shop in Seattle that refurbishes used bikes and helps the community by offering free bikes for kids and classes and stuff. I got a pretty nice bike and helped out a great organization at the same time... so if you don't mind buying used, you might look around for a shop like this one.
Other options are Craigs List and Ebay. I'd go with Craigs List first as you're likely to find it cheaper and Ebay people seem to be a bitch to deal with these days... it's nothing like it used to be. $20 shipping for a string of Christmas lights? WTF?!?!! But I digress.
Brands I like, or liked back when I used to ride daily in the mid 90's... before putting on some pounds... Kona, Mongoose, GT, and Trek. I know back then Trek had a nice bike in the $350 range that a friend of mine had. He later upgraded to a $700 Kona... had two friends with nice Konas... I unfortunately had a piece of shit Schwinn that I had upgraded the components on... but my frame alone weighed more than their complete bikes... by several pounds. I think my frame was built to military specs or some shit... lol.
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Other options are Craigs List and Ebay. I'd go with Craigs List first as you're likely to find it cheaper and Ebay people seem to be a bitch to deal with these days... it's nothing like it used to be. $20 shipping for a string of Christmas lights? WTF?!?!! But I digress.
Brands I like, or liked back when I used to ride daily in the mid 90's... before putting on some pounds... Kona, Mongoose, GT, and Trek. I know back then Trek had a nice bike in the $350 range that a friend of mine had. He later upgraded to a $700 Kona... had two friends with nice Konas... I unfortunately had a piece of shit Schwinn that I had upgraded the components on... but my frame alone weighed more than their complete bikes... by several pounds. I think my frame was built to military specs or some shit... lol.