Hello everyone!!

Let me start by introducing my situation. I would really like to switch to a car free lifestyle and have purchased a hybrid last week about 9 days ago. Currently, I have a Trek 8.3 DS. I thought it was the perfect commuter but it has front suspensions which really weigh me down and make it hard to climb hills, granted I only go through 2 hills on my exactly 1-mile journey to work in the morning. The thing of it is, that hill is dangerous as it follows right after a turn at a stop light and cars always zoom by so closely because they can't gauge my speed.

I went back to my LBS with my dilemma and they introduced me to the Trek 1.5 Alpha Matte Black. It is a used 2011 version that was purchased by it's previous owner in April 2012. They state it is well taken care of and are willing to let it go for $800. Some questions come to mind however.

Is the weight benefits from my hybrid to this bike worth the 272 difference? Is it ok to make a bike that cost a grand total of 872 a commuter bike to ride everyday? Will this give a bad impression amongst other cyclists? Will the speed gain be more than say 4-5 mph? Lastly-in accordance with the subject line-is it ideal to commute with an expensive road bike (at least expensive for ME)?

I look at other peoples commuter bicycles and notice they are all old-probably for theft reasons-but have a lot of good add-ons like bike racks, fenders etc. I could probably do the same to my potential road bike eventually.