genec

For one year while I was going to college I used a wrecked rusty girls bike with a wire rack on the handlebars... I bought it for a six pack and eventually sold it for a six pack. The interesting thing is I never locked it when I got to campus... I just parked it where I wanted and found it right there later. The bike looked terrible, was single speed and I only rode it 5 miles to school. Mechanically it was quite sound... I tore it down and cleaned and lubed all the internal working parts. Externally, I left it looking as poor as possible. The whole ruse worked perfectly.

GearsForFears

I bought a used and "gnawed" Mongoose Crossway 250 - the world's heaviest and slowest hybrid - when I started commuting, not wanting to commit a lot of money or knowing how much I would take to cycling. That bike has been converted to an errand/grocery bomber with a delightfully nerdy $20 Wald quick-release basket on the handlebars. It's incredible how handy that bike comes in. We're never short a bike now when one is in the shop. It gets lent to guests and friends all the time. It goes wherever we're nervous to take our fancier machines. It's fine with a relatively light cable/combo lock mounted on the frame - it's always ready to rock, nothing to pack or remember to bring. So +many on the cheap second bike idea.

Even if I had a half-mile commute, I'd bike. Since I started riding a bicycle, walking just bores the **** out of me.