Thanks for your insight. On the weight of this, yesterday I cranked the seat back as far as it could go. One of my hesitations had been that I need to be able to pick up the bike by its center of gravity or I can't carry it upstairs. But with the extra angle on the seat, I found that I could move the seat up a little and still carry it in the right place. Then I took it out on a ride and it seemed more comfortable, I still squirm, but not as much, and I seem to have better wind for endurance and a little speed.

I'll see how it goes on the commute tomorrow.

Now, almost two weeks later, the change seems to have been very positive. I'm not squirming nearly as much, I can ride harder, and have picked up several gears at most times. My enthusiasm for maintaining a faster pace is also improved. There's just one portion of one hill that is so steep that my breathing doubles the rate of my pedaling. For that, I think I need some extremely low gearing.