Originally Posted by
Riveting
I used to solely commute on a heavy hybrid with heavy puncture resistant Schwalbe Marathon Plus 33 tires, heavy generative lighting system, and heavy rack and panniers. But now almost 100% of my commutes are on my 19 lb. Trek Madone drop bar bike with a backpack. By doing so, I shaved about 25lbs off my bike rig, and 10 minutes off of a 36 minute, 9 mile commute (now down to ~25 min. on a fast day). And all of my commutes have now become big effort training sessions for my long weekend group rides. And because I'm in training mode almost all the time, I've shaved about 30 lbs. off of MY frame in the last 12 months commuting by drop bar. YMMV.
It depends on what your goals are. Though I don't commute on a sub-20 lb racing machine, I use a road bike for most of my commutes and like it because it rewards the efforts I put in.
At the same time, not everybody wants to be in training mode all the time, even if they enjoy the occasional group ride on the weekend. It sounds like the OP found what he is after. Hopefully it is suited to the group rides he had in mind, but if not, there are generally several group rides available in a given area. Some are more relaxed than others. The one he talked about was 15 miles long which sounds pretty laid back.
Sometimes multiple bikes are the answer, but I like the gravel/adventure bikes that are becoming more popular. I could see something of that variety being adequate for all my needs.