Heck, just a new set of tires and some best-of-the-used-pile components can get you pretty close. We got a box of 26x1.75 street tires cheap on a bulk clearance, and a lot of 26" MTBSOs ranging from early 80s to last year on the junk bike pile. Stripping them down then rebuilding the best frames with the best components and slapping the narrower, smoother tires on has turned out a couple of surprisingly good heavy-duty commuter bikes just about ideal for this area. (City limits are barely 6 miles edge to edge the longer way, maybe 3 miles the shorter way, so there aren't any long in-town commutes.) If we could find a similar deal on racks, I'd be working up utility specials like crazy, but they'd have to be under $10 each in bulk to keep the total out-the-door price down. (We're already fudging labor cost a lot on these overhauls to keep them as affordable as we can, so we don't have much room left on the final price.)