Originally Posted by
matthew_deaner
To the OP: The page you linked to won't load.
I honestly don't understand why there needs to be a "commuter bike" nitch in the first place. Maybe I just don't get it... but commuters are already well served by the likes of Surly, Jamis, and Bianchi, to name a few, and the bikes from these companies are not marketed specifically as "commuter" bikes. The Breezer series are marketed as "commuter" bikes but, long before Breezer hit the marketplace, bikes like them were around and were called "comfort bikes". I think that manufacturers are just looking for another marketing category so that they can sell more stuff.
I've heard the term "city bike" too and I'm not sure how they differ.
I suppose it's good that they think there's a large enough market to target a specific type of bike at. Also if a non-cyclist were to decide that commuting by bike was something they wanted to do, this category gives them an idea of what they might want to look for in a bike (racks, etc).
On the other hand, I don't think that style of bike is the best choice for somebody with a longish commute, but that's probably not the group they're aiming at.