I had a jump bike as a teenager and remember them being terrible things for doing any actual riding, but I also recall not being fond of anything slightly uphill at the time. Was the problem my laziness or are singlespeed jump bikes really unrideable?
I’m only 3 (hilly) miles from work so riding is an obvious choice but there’s nowhere secure to lock the bike so I want a cheap hack. At the same time, I also have a hankering for a bike to hit some BMX tracks and mess about on.
Could I kill two birds with one stone?

A long seat post is your friend. 3 miles won’t kill you

Might be an asset if your commute is in Edinburgh with tram lines to jump.

As already said, a long seatpost and comfy saddle for the commute and possibly a suitable rear cog if the gearing is off.

Neither is particularly expensive or hard to swap between work/play but would make those 3 miles (potentially) much nicer!

I couriered on a Yeti DJ with 3×9 and suspension.

The seatpost was unfeasibly long, but i loved it.

Better than jumping on a commuter bike I suppose!

Used to do a flat 3 miles on my old SS trailstar with 24″ wheels, great dirt bike pretty crap commuter TBH.

The ride was Okay but a bit of a chore at times, even with the seat up. moved jobs/home and tried doing the new hillier 20 mile commute on the same bike, managed it once and went shopping for my first road bike.

My vote would be for a cheap commuter, bigger frame, rigid, slicks (assuming it’s all on tarmac), if it’s hillier maybe 1xN drive, doesn’t have to be an XC whippet just better suited to the job, less desirable to thieves and saves wear and tear on your nicer bike…

Totally out of context, but in a drunken afternoon, I bought a yamaha trials bike, with the intention of using it to ride around town.

I had got rid of it by the net weekend.

Great idea for the few hours of fun we had riding around my mates paitball course, a few runs to the nearest beer post, and then the realisation I had to ride it home…

I commuted 6 miles each way on my Spooky Metalhead and it wasn’t an issue. It was nice riding something so simple and bombproof. Sometimes took the longer route along the sea front so it definitely didn’t put me off.