I’m off to college next year, and I have all summer to work on a bike for comuting. I could just buy one, but this will be more fun. 
There aren’t many hills in the city (Tucson, AZ) so I’m thinking possibly a fixie, or even a 5 speed, but I don’t want or need a 24 speed bike. 
Any thoughts/suggestions? What’d you have in college?
A very cheap 21 speed mountian bike, bikes get nicked or trashed all the time round here, with an exspensive or fancy bike you’d forever worry about locking it up. I do have some fantastic slick tyres for it though. All the cyclists have a racer, downhill or trials or whatever their into and then a cheap 26 for getting around on aswell.
I had a Cannondale road bike in college, but I never took it to campus. Too many bikes get stolen there. To get to class I walked or rode my unicycle. My bike stayed inside at home and locked.
A college bike that gets locked on campus needs to be cheap and used. A fixie with a flip-flop hub would be neat to have and ride. A flip-flop hub has a fixed cog on one side of the hub and a rotating cog on the other side. To change from a fixie to a standard single speed you take the wheel out, flip it around and put it back in the frame. You’ll want a tire that doesn’t have a directional tread.
Keep the bike simple (don’t get fancy) and if it looks distressed all the better. See what you can find locally used.
I always rode a really cheap bike to campus because I didn’t want my road bike to be stolen like many other bikes have been on campus. It depends on how many miles you plan on going with it each day, and just remember to get a good lock.
Yeah, go with either a cheapy or one that looks cheapy. My 3rd year at college my roomates bike was stolen from right next to mine (both were locked.) The bikes were the same age, but his hadn’t been abused as much (no rust on the handlebars from where paint had been scraped off on bails, the seat wasn’t torn, my tires were more worn.)
Ironicly, his bike was lower quality than mine 
Of course, I’m biased, since I use that “quality” thing as an excuse to friends about not buying a new one (I actually just save my money for unicycles ;))
But remember, bikes will get heavily abused in a college town. I’ve had several tacks placed in my tires, and I’ve seen more than one bike in a rack where some @55h0l3 has tacoed the rim by pulling against while it was in the rack 
In my town, one of the barbers actually has a pretty decent business selling old refurbed bikes for ~$20… they work, and if they get destroyed you only lost$20
Fixies are great for commuting. They’re low maintenance. They have few parts for thiefs to steal. And, if a thief were to try to ride it away, he/she would probably be thrown off.
Find some old/used bike parts to build it, and mix ugly colors as much as possible. Check the junk bin at your LBS. Use bolts instead of quick release levers. If anything, splurge on nice slick commuter tires with anti-thorn strips in them.
I have this Suzue hub on mine, and it has worked fine for years.
I had a 24" Schwinn, initially. What’s all this about a bicycle?
that’s what I want to know! dang kids
I’f I were you, I’d go fixed. Cheap. easy. fun. Hard to steal. But dont get those crap suzue JR hubs. They suck majorly, from my experience. The Suzue Promax’s are awesome though. I <3 my fixed. If you were going fixed, I’d reccomend IRO frames because they are cheap as shit and have good geometry for general riding, not super steep track angles.
Ride your uni instead.
If that’s really impracticall, at least a ‘fixie’ simulates uni pedalling better than a regular bike.
I agree with all the comments here about making it look ugly/cheap but keeping it mechanically excellent.
I have a great cheep single spead road bike/ fixie for comunting. whats your price range. I can recomend a great bike for any cost level.
I have to agree with most folks here, get yourself a cheap bike that will get you from A to B.
Anything flash will attract unwanted attention.
try to avoid quick release things such as quick release seat post clamps and front wheels because those would be the easiest things to steal. I would also recommend getting a good light that you can take off easily.
something kinda like this
I heard a rumor that bikes could outrun unicycles, so I thought I’d test out the theory. 
As a graduation present, my grandparents gave me $500 towards a commuting bike for college. I figured I would get a much cheaper one then that, as I suspected that theft would be a problem, and from your posts it appears that it is! At least now I have enough money to pay for stolen/vandalized parts as I go through college.
Today I went exploring in the family barn and found my dad’s old college bike which had been accumulating dust over the years (Rust free! Don’t you love Arizona?). I cleaned it up a bit, put air in the tires, put some oil on the chain, and took it out for a quick spin. It seems to be in working order, but it has 12 speeds! It also has a strange feature that allows you to stop pedaling but still coast along! That can be fixed though…
I’ll try to post a picture of it later.
get a unicycle
spudman has a few unis already…
anyways, here’s my old 80s bike, it’s from after I got out of college and got a job. But I spent my money on car parts, not bikes.
(in case you haven’t figured it out yet, I’m spudmans dad)
I recomend the giant bowery.
Its a fixie/ single speed and pretty light with bolt on wheels
get an extra long kryptonite lock able to go thorough both wheels and the frame. Its a unique bike and reconizable if stolen.
If you get a good lock your set.
The community college I’m attending doesn’t even bolt down the bike racks! I’ve tried to explain to the security how ten bikes locked to a loose rack + two guys and a pickup = the college is out an expensive rack.
Get new tires, brake pads, and brake cables. Shifting cables won’t hurt you if they come apart, so those are optional.
I wouldn’t go for a fixie, everyone knows what no derailleur means, and it’ll get noticed just a bit for that fact. Attention baaaaad. Multiple gears are appreciated when hills appear.
Check around and see if there is a bike co-op in your area. They’ll know how to set up an invisible bike, and have some good el cheapo parts. They might also be good for tightening and trueing up your wheels. (just a guess, old bikes tend to get floppy spokes)
Make it safe, mechanically sound, and never, ever touch the years of boring, unremarkable grime it has accumulated! (except what’s in the bearings) I have an old (almost as old as me!) Schwinn Varsity, acquired for free, set up like this. It has received attention to all bearings, oil for the derailleurs, an old aluminum front wheel, (brakes work better on aluminum) and tires, tubes, chain, brake parts have been replaced. With a fold-out steel grocery rack, it weighs 43.7 pounds! It still has the dirt it came to me with; it’s like nothing ever happened. It’s my bus and college bike, because the sense of loss in the event of theft will be outweighed by the inconvenience of unplanned walking.
coker 36" unicycle… that way you can carry stuff
Chase
Neat bike, and $500 MSRP with brakes.
I almost want one.
Unicyclists have the legs to pedal a single speed or a fixie. We’re not wimps. We don’t shy away from hills.