It's taken me a day (off and on) to read through this thread, but wow what helpful advice.

I'm considering a once a week commute to work (to give it a try) and I've learned a lot. Seems like I'm going to have to pick up a few supplies.

Also I'll leave some work cloths at work for the day I ride in to save having to really need much in the way of storage. I already have an under the seat bag that can hold pretty much everything I'd need... just actually need to go pickup a few extra tubes and some valve extensions since I have deep V rims.

Also I need to grease some stuff and lube the chain and tighten all the bolts and so on. Maybe I'll even get a stem riser if there's not enough adjustability available.

Anyway super helpful thread, thanks everyone... it saved one noob from asking a bunch of common questions