Originally Posted by MichaelW
A lightweight day-touring bike is good for long commutes. These are about the same weight as a (same priced) race bike but have more generous clearance for tyres and fenders + rack and fender threaded eyelets. You dont need an expedition tourer like the Surley LHT.
The Soma ES is a nice example of the style:
http://www.somafab.com/extrasmoothie.html
Looks like a great bike. I'd like to support a smaller/indie company over one of the big corp. if I can. I also like the fact that Soma is a CA company. Anyone have anything to say about Soma bikes?