comments:
$50 is basically pennies for a bike and what you’re currently riding is not going to make things easy. Even on a very tight budget, you could get something like this inexpensive Ozark bike from Walmart and it would be massively better than your current bike for daily commuting: https://www.walmart.com/ip/702OZT-GRAVEL-FLAT-L/5822688264
If you can't find a better deal for a used bike, the Ozark Trail Gravel Bike sold at Walmart is surprisingly good.
They did not but it was easy enough to separate them since the small is 5'1-5'5, M is 5-5" to 5'10", etc. I also used the walmart link to them. My store(s) inventory was spot on. Here is the link for the larges https://www.walmart.com/ip/700c-Ozark-Trail-G-1-Explorer-Flat-Bar-Gravel-Bike-Large-Frame-Fits-Riders-5-10-6-3-Green/5822688264
Hmm, this one is 40c and states up to my height of 6' 3": https://www.walmart.com/ip/700c-Ozark-Trail-G-1-Explorer-Flat-Bar-Gravel-Bike-Large-Frame-Fits-Riders-5-10-6-3-Green/5822688264?classType=REGULAR&from=/search No suspension (at least that I can see), so that's a plus in my case. I guess the biggest difference is this states 40c tires, which is about an inch narrower than my first link. Would that be too narrow, or would I be getting diminishing returns going for the 2.5" over 40c? Again, thanks for the help!