Here is my cheap commuter. Its mostly a Chicago-built Schwinn Suburban. I loved the way it soaks up the rough stuff, but was a little put off with the weight (39 lbs) and steel wheels. I decided to see if I could keep the good qualities while shedding a few pounds, and still keeping it invisible to theives.

I put on a cheap 700C wheelset, 28mm kevlar belted tires, 8-speed cassette, single 44 tooth crank, and an 8-speed barcon shifter.
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The bike originally qualified as inexpensive, at $20 from Betty's Resale. However, the crank and chainwheel are where all the money is in this bike. Once I made the decision that the forged steel had to go to lighten the load, the one piece ashtabula crank was first on my list. There's an adapter in the bottom bracket shell from Harris Cyclery, a bottom bracket and a crank from ebay (and having spent a year on another bike), and a 44T chainwheel and shorty bolts from a LBS.
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Its worth it, though, to have just the right gearing. I was always hunting between the big and small rings on my double crankset, and wishing I had something in the middle. Now I do. Also, I swapped out the forged steel stem for alloy (ebay) and the steel handlebars for Nitto Randonneurs (ebay). I also took off the steel chain guard and kickstand. Taking off all of the steel bits lightened the bike by ten pounds.

Well, it kept its sweet ride, and I'm having a blast riding to work.

Walter.