Thanks for the interesting post, good food for thought here as I have been contemplating getting a tourer that will do double duty as a fast commuter.

Although I'm not sure what "front low rider, mid axle, rack and packs" refers to, could you post a link to a manufacturer's website?

My hardtail mountain bike is my primary commuter and it has been slowly morphing into a hybrid. So much so that I'm about to change the handlebars to drops and replace the suspension forks with road forks. Apart from the weight I'm pretty happy with it, just need to get myself into a more aero position as I'm only averaging around 19MPH at the moment. I'm really at a crossroads wondering if it's worth while pursuing further mods on my mtb or starting again with a tourer and maybe relegating the mtb to wet-weather/backup commuter status. I do about 60 miles a day, 4 or 5 times a week. What do you think?