Originally Posted by
ptle
In my opinion an ideal commuter bike would be a steel framed cyclocross bike that has mounts for disc brakes, racks, and fenders. That way you can put road tires on it when it's nice out or bigger studded tires when it's icy. Disc brakes will help in wet/cold conditions. Fenders will keep you dry. The rack will allow you to haul stuff. Drop bars allow for a variety of hand positions.
It seems like cyclocross bikes with disc tabs are fairly unusual (at least in my hunting). Not unheard of, but unusual. That's the one downside to CX in this case: your field of options gets really narrow without building yourself. Putting drops on a mechanical disced hybrid might be easier.
On a wholly unrelated note, your avatar is slightly distracting.
