Originally Posted by
avaserfi
Out of curiosity, and because it is a possibility, would there be significant benefits to moving the price range up to about $800 a bike?
For the length and type of journey you are talking about, probably not. An alfine internal hub would reduce maintenance and disk brakes would improve braking in the wet - assuming you had tyres with good wet grip to make use of them. Otoh, kool stop salmon brake pads will improve wet weather braking a lot and you can fit them to your current bike for $20.