All of this sounds good. But I encountered a lot of problems once I went to the bike shop. Mainly, my size road bike (58-60cm) didn't have holes for a rack. also, I felt like I was going to fall over though it wasn't that big a deal. I road a 1.5 and it was awesome. So fast and agile. But the guys said plop another $200 for a 2.1 and you have a bike that's 3x better. In the end the store owner (sales rep was shooed away) told me for commuting i'd need something more versitile but since I had a 7000 it'd have to be lighter and faster.

So, he sold me a Trek XO1 for $1200 as opposed to the msrp of $1800. I thought, "a cyclocross?". I was turned off by the knobby tires but he said I can replace those with road tires if I wanted to but given he commutes the same distance I do (he actually lives in my neighborhood, who'd have thought?) I'd want more options for having to go off the road or onto a sidewalk to cut my commute time.

In practice I road a few laps around the park I go through for 2.miles of my hilly ride. This park has a lot of steep hills and traffic (2 lanes, one car one bike/walk, one way in a loop) so it represented the hardest part of my commute the best. Overall it took me 10min less to do two laps, 5 miles than it did on my hybrid. Now, I rode without a rack and about 5lbs of accessories but it was a nice ride.

I'm glad I upgraded. My palms are red and sore where they were on the hoods, my inner thigh is surprisingly sore too like rug burn. But I think this will make my commute a lot easier in the long run (10min/5miles saved x 6 = 1hr commute saved). Was it worth $1200? Not yet. I don't have the leg muscle to fully utilize the potential but it felt half as heavy as my commuter even though it's officially only 7lb lighter. Do the wheels really cost $300? that was surprising.