Originally Posted by Bike_UK
Having just got into some regular longer rides recently (30+ miles), I have been asking a similar question myself. And my conclusion...?
A CX bike!
My current mountain (style) bike does the 5 mile commute pretty well, but starts to get uncomfortable after about 45/50 mins. I wanted to change to a road bike (Trek 1000 looked like being the one), but there are several non-paved section of my commute and the longer ride is mainly on an old cycle path with breaking-up asphalt. So i have now turned my attentions to something which i see as basically a toughened up road bike - a cyclocross bike!
In case you are interested, the leading candidate is the Specialized Tricross Sport (cheapest model). Kona Jake the Snake came second only on price grounds and i wanted higher spec components than comes on the standard Jake.
Agreed. CX bikes rule and are good for just about anything on a commuter run. You might want to consider a Surly Cross Check as well. The nice thing about the Surly for commuting is that it is steel (and hence rides nice under heavy load) and it has all the eyelets you possibly need for racks and fenders. I have no idea, however, what the price point is on that bike in the UK.