Originally Posted by smoothness

i know it might not be what you want to hear, but if you're buying a bicycle for the first time in a long time, i suggest getting a mid-range bicycle first, for you to get a feel for whether or not you want to truly ride a single speed. wabi bicycles, though nice, are a fair bit more than say a kilo, and you'd probably feel less bad if you dented up a kilo rather than a wabi. i personally just build up junker bikes, and don't worry so much about whether or not i lock them up in the best of places; sure they have nice parts on them, but to the casual bystander they just look like any other bicycle. best of luck to you.

ps: if you end up looking for a road bicycle with gears, i suggest trying to find a cheap georgena terry bicycle. might be worth your while; at one point, i was sitting on four of them and couldn't get rid of the frames to save my life, b/c i didn't know any women who were short enough to ride them (so sad that i, as a a 64" guy, was too tall to ride them T_T)