I've been bike commuting for six years and have ridden everything from a $1600 road bike to a Fixie beach cruiser worth about $50. I wanted to post what I ride and how much I've spent to help people who are looking to get into commuting.

If you are 0-10 miles from work each way I think my set up is perfect. Here is what I use:

Bike: a vintage 10 speed steel frame road bike. Soooooo cheap! You can get them for about $200 across the county, they don't get stolen, they are easy and cheap to fix, and incredibly tough. Since the furthest I ride is 20 miles a day, weight is not that important. They are on the heavy side.

Back light this light is so far above and beyond any other option, just go for it. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000KBEH1W/ref=oh_details_o02_s01_i00

Front light: Nice and bright and easy to take off (never leave lights on bike, they get stolen) http://www.amazon.com/Planet-Bike-Beamer-Bicycle-Bracket/dp/B000HU11ZG/ref=sr_1_4?ie=UTF8&qid=1340151307&sr=8-4&keywords=Planet+bike+three+led

Baskets: these are really heavy but work great. Since I don't ride that far I don't really worry about weight. http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0012DVQVQ/ref=oh_details_o04_s00_i00

Lock: the cheapest of the real bike locks. http://www.amazon.com/Kryptonite-Kryptolok-Series-Standard-Bicycle/dp/B000LPEXDO/ref=sr_1_10?ie=UTF8&qid=1340151428&sr=8-10&keywords=kryptonite+bike+lock

The most important recommendation here is for the bike. Vintage steel frame 10 gear bikes are the best for short commutes. I'm sure a ton of other people on r/bicycling ride them to work and just love them. At some point I may buy another bike but ill always have one of these around.

I know this may seem like an add, but there is so much information out there, I wanted to make sure people had a basic idea of what your average bike commuter uses.

I'd be happy to give people advice of they have any questions.