For commuting, it's a trade off. The tubus racks are nice. However, if you really are going to tour a lot, then keep it simple... canti brakes, and friction shifting. For commuting, I care for neither. I have a touring bike with STI shifting and I converted from canti brakes to disc brakes. But, my touring bike is for commuting... not touring. I also added a Bionx electric motor. Let's be clear - this is the commuting forum... not racing, not touring, not fitness. All those other types of cycling are great, but this is where you come to look for advice and discuss issues primarily for commuting on a bicycle. Plenty of folks want to turn the discussions into something other than commuting.

Everything that I have done with my touring bike has been to make it into a really great commuter - that is it's primary purpose. I have a road bike for fitness and distance rides.