How much should one spend on a bicycle?

Ablang wrote:
I know that a lot of details would factor into this, but I am
wondering what bicycle enthusiasts consider when buying a new (or
used) bike?

I guess I don't want to underspend and end up w/ a piece of cra*, but
I also don't want to overspend and risk having it get stolen.

I would like to use it for daily exercise and going to the store (not
more than 10 miles one way).
That's a rather philosophical question.

A few years back, I was going back to school. I bought a beater for
about $100 so I could bike to class (downtown, not the best of
neighbourhoods). It didn't take many trips by bike to pay for it
(parking $5, roundtrip bus $4). After that, everything was gravy.

The beater was okay, but not a great bike. After commuting a lot by
bike for several years without incident, I forked out about $500 for a
decent new bike with fenders and a rack and panniers. It's much more
pleasant to ride than the beater. It will pay for itself in a couple
more months (parking is now $8, and bus roundtrip is now $4.50). Then
everything will be gravy again.

You might consider getting two bikes - one for fun rides and one for
commuting. Make the latter a beater and see how committed you are to
cycling. If you use a beater a lot, spending a bit more might be
worthwhile. If you don't use it much, you haven't spent much.