Originally Posted by apw55
Seems as though it may be time to pony up and put our money where our mouths are.
Many, if not all, of the participants in this thread have been a part of numerous other Euro bike threads that have appeared during the past few months and have strongly expressed the desire to see U.S. makers offer practical Euro Style commuter / utility bikes here.
The problem is that for most manufactuers a "commuter bike" is a cheapo rigid aluminum frame mountian bike with a hub gear in it. That's what Breezer sells and that's essentially what the Bianchi Milano is (a bike which I bought and very much regretted). They are nothing like the Gazelle bikes or aforementioned Kronan Cykel, except for the hub gear.
I made my own commuter bike out of an old Schwinn Suburban, which is much closer to something like the Kronan Cykel than any so-called "commuter" avaliable today in the USA:
http://neighborhoods.chicago.il.us/a/Bicycles/