I started commuting in college (WV) and the roads in the tiny little town where the school was located were horrible, to the point that I popped a tire hitting a pothole on more than one occasion. I bought a MTB (Trek 930 rigid) to ride there because I wanted to ride to/from school and also trail ride. When I started commuting in CA after graduation I just used that bike and upgraded - went to semi-slicks in a smaller size, got fenders, etc. I was debating a bar change, but the bike was stolen. When I replaced (the Schwinn in the sig) I went with something that met my commute needs at the time, which are short distance and crappy weather.