I basically agree with this article.

If you want cheap - then buy the cheapest. If you want something suitable
for commuting then start looking at more than the two cheap bicycles you
indicate. When i go to garage and other sales i see so many cheap bikes -
and then when i ask why they did not use the bikes the folks say the bike
did not fit, it did not work properly, it did not...

Cheap bikes might be OK for a spin around the block but that is IT!!

Get a used bike with good components. Who cares if it does not have the
latest in gadgetry?? I bought a 20 year old Peugeot at a garage sale and
with several adjustments to the seat and front bars it will be great for
commuting. It would be better to have fenders on it, but for $20 I guess I
can get fenders and still be farther ahead than buying a new bike similar
to what you are looking at.

Think outside the box and look at a quality used bike that will be much
more suitable for your needs as compared to the 2 new ones you are enamored
with...

wrote:

Neither. As commuters, they would probably do OK. But they are cheap
junk, and possibly like throwing money away. If you search in this
newsgroup for "Carl Fogel" "Roadmaster" and "Fury", you will find the
saga of a cheap dept. store bike.

You /should/ buy from your LBS. But not a new bike. A used one. A
decent, well-maintained, used bike can cost only a bit more than a new
dept. store bike-shaped toy, and is likely to have better components.
This means that you might get more life out of your used bike than you
would out of a new bike-shaped toy from some *Mart.

Locally, the LBSs have quite a bit of used inventory that they are
willing to make deals on because in our corner of North America, it's
winter, and bikes don't sell well here in the winter.
Good luck.

HAND,

E.P.