Itsjustb - If you really don't want 3 bikes (but it kinda sounds like you do ) then there's no reason why Bike 1 and Bike 2 couldn't be the same bike. A hybrid would make an excellent commuter, and many on this forum use them. Or, if you like drop bars, a cyclocross would work well for both commuting and recreational riding, though potentially at a higher initial purchase cost.

I have 3 bikes, but my cyclocross sees the least amount of use these days, mainly because most of my riding has been commuting. If the weather is nice, I use my road bike, which I just love for its speed and handling. If the weather is crummy, I use my mountain bike (converted to drop bars) which has full fenders. The cyclocross I use for weekend recreational rides, which I haven't had much time for in the last couple months.

And just to throw my 2 cents in regarding shifters, my road bike has down-tube shifters, my MTB has bar-end shifters, and my cross bike has brifters. My favourite by far are the brifters. I have my reasons for keeping all my bikes as-is shifter-wise, but if it was reasonable and practical to put brifters on all my bikes, I would.