I'd just get an old steel road bike with forks/stays big enough for cross tires, and throw some handlebars on there that match your preference.


Personally I prefer just using road tires on my commuter. I used cyclocross tires for a while (mixed road and sidewalk commute like yours, but much shorter) but ended up switching back to regular road tires (Although I went with non-tiny ones, maybe 700c x 21ish? maybe a hair bigger?). I didn't feel like the few sidewalks and dirt patches I rode over gave my road tires enough problems to justify the speed loss (which really isn't much, so don't worry) of cross tires.

Of course, if you aren't broke like myself and don't mind buying something brand-new, a new cross bike would be dandy, I'm just new-bike averse. (Besides, you miss all the fun of rebuilding a junker!).