Hi,

I know there's a bunch of these threads, but I was looking for some input on which bike to choose as an all-round commuter. Previously I just used my road bike (a trek 1400) but since I've just moved from australia to switzerland and had to leave me bike behind I'm in the market for a new ride. My commute is about 20m one-way. Also, and this is something I've never experienced before, but I'm going to have to deal with snow and a fair bit of it if I'm going to commute all year round. I've been looking at two kona bikes so far, the jake the snake and the ***** inc. Basically I was looking for a bike with drop bars, around 105 standard, with options for fenders and racks. My questions are

1. how much speed over a 20 mile commute will I lose going from a road bike to a cross bike or a tourer? I would usually do that distance in around an hour on a racer, will the time difference be negligble or significant?
2. the ***** inc. has the disc brakes, with the snow/winter riding, how much better will these be over the JTS?
3. how realistic is a 20 mile commute in heavy snow? will this just be too long for practical purposes?

also, does anyone have any other bikes that I should consider? I would be especially interested in any european brands as I know very few of them.

I know a lot of these questions are subjective, just looking for a little input from those who have far more winter riding experience especially than I do (considering I have none).

thanks