Speak for yourself, sir. Unless of course you think I'm a "nobody".
My best bike is my commuter. It has to be since I'm car-free. It needs to be 100% dependable and reliable in all conditions and all four seasons. It's the bike that gets ridden most often, for the most hours, and for the most miles of all my bikes. My commuter is the only bike I own that I bought new, and I bought it specifically with the intent to use it for its designed purpose--all conditions commuting. My other bikes are playthings. And I bought them all second-hand.
It had only around 1,000 miles on it when the studs first went on and we went to work in the slush. Thirteen-thousand miles later, we're entering our fifth winter. It's still mistaken sometimes for showroom new. Nothing has disintegrated, fallen off, melted, or turned to excrement--all those things some people would have you believe happens when you ride a bike anytime it's not a sunny summer day. I've replaced only normal wear and tear items--cables, brake pads, chains, cassette.
So if you like to ride a decent bike, here's the truth--you don't have to settle for second best in the winter.
No matter what somebody would have you think.
Sorry tsl but I think some full disclosure is in order.
Do you or do you not have have a bike hook mounted in your shower to help keep your bikes clean?
Unfortunately I do not, and, as supportive as my lovely wife has been in regards to my bike habit, I think she'd draw the line at me showering with one.
Anyway, I agree that if you're willing to put in the extra time to frequently wash the crud and salt off your bike you can ride an expensive bike year round and it will do just fine. If your not willing and able to do that, you end up with a bike that looks like this:
Now, that's not really a bad bike in the picture. The rear derailleur is a few year old XT that I bought especially because I thought it would deal with rough conditions better than lesser derailleurs. For the most part it came through OK, but as I've mentioned in several other threads, this year I'm going to be using a bike with an IGH.
I have two bikes, but it's not quite correct to say that one is a bad weather bike and the other one is the fair weather bike. One of them is a road bike and the other is my everything else bike. The everything else bike is the one I use in the winter or when I want to go off road. The road bike I'll ride in any weather excluding ice and and snow. It doesn't have clearance for the tires I like to use in those conditions.