I'm getting a bike for some use in the city, but the primary purpose of it will be to commute via a bike path. It's 25 miles each way, so I will probably only ride my bike in one direction (at first). I've never ridden a road bike before and they don't look comfortable, so I don't really want to spend a lot of money on a road bike. Any other bikes with gears seem like a reasonable option.
My budget is limited by concern about my bike getting stolen or getting worn out by water. Aka the cheaper the better (as long as it can get me to work in 1 piece!), but I can shell out if you convince me to. I know nothing about bikes (I've owned a sparkly Barbie bike with training wheels, some blue Huffy that saw ~100 miles, and some low-end Trek mtn bike) so all I know is that I want something durable.
Any suggestions or general advice? Much appreciated!
My budget is limited by concern about my bike getting stolen or getting worn out by water. Aka the cheaper the better (as long as it can get me to work in 1 piece!), but I can shell out if you convince me to. I know nothing about bikes (I've owned a sparkly Barbie bike with training wheels, some blue Huffy that saw ~100 miles, and some low-end Trek mtn bike) so all I know is that I want something durable.
Any suggestions or general advice? Much appreciated!