After researching where to find a good, second-hand bike, I came across  the Bike Station, which has a fantastic mission and does great work. Their bikes are high quality and the staff is extremely knowledgable. That said, it is a bit far from central Edinburgh to traipse out there if they are sold out of bikes. I learned that you have to be patient and it's the luck of the draw what you'll find here each day. I first came at lunchtime in mid-September, only to hear that the students had been queuing outside each morning at 10am when it opened to snatch up all of the just-completed bikes. The Bike Station sold out of all of its second-hand bikes each day and it was hard for someone working to be able to compete with the savvy and competitive students. However, luck stroke for me in the last week of September and I found a great bike. The staff were so friendly and let me ride it around outside and ask many questions about it. The three-month limited warranty also reassured me, and the knowledge that I was not only getting a good bike but also was supporting a great cause and mission of the Bike Station. I was sold.