Slider,

I've considered that bike option (I'm 4 miles away), but it's pay-off isn't all that great. Since I play soccer, lift weights, and run, the exercise'd be nice - but it's not needed.

Here's the math:

4 miles each way = 8 miles/day or 40 miles/week. At the 18mpg I'm getting (it's 45mph the whole way and only 2 stop lights), that works out to saving 2.2 gallons of gas/week. At $4/gallon (which I don't pay due to a deal with the local grocery store - I'm actually averaging around $3.50/gallon), that's only $8.80 of savings/week. Living in Ohio coupled with my specific job means I can only ride about 6 months out of the year, which means 24 weeks (2 off for vacation), so the savings ends up being $213/year.

While that might be a crappy bike, I'm not going to buy one that's not quality. The best combo of rideability/comfort/speed/quality/durability is probably a hybrid, and the decent ones are probably about 2x that.

Plus, it actually adds time to my commute, means I'd have to deal with being occasionally getting soaked, etc.

If it could pay off in a year or a few months, I'd probably be all over it. This is just too much for right now (we're happily recovering from moving to OH from NJ, floating two mortgages, and dropping several thousand into the condo we didn't need so it'd sell quick).