Rigid mountain bikes make excellent commuter bikes. that one looks simple and reliable I like it. As for building a road bike from scratch, I'd recommend trying to find an old steel bike to build upon. I found an old steel road bike made out excellent Columbus SLX tubing for cheap and it rides like a dream, I'm using nine speed Campagnolo Xenon, nothing fancy and it works very well, once that drivetrain is completely worn I can upgrade to something more modern without any worries because the frame rides great so I wouldn't mind splashing some cash on it.