My wife has doggedly been pursuing her commute, 1 mile less than mine (as the crow flies, we have different am/pm/lunchtime errands), in her work clothes. She was finally on the verge of breaking me, (my work clothes are far less nice than hers, and only barely dressier than my riding clothes which are not bike-specific, just less sweat/roadgrime/grease tolerant), making the final break (I stopped showering at work long ago) and just riding in work clothes, when she started vocalizing about possibly changing at work after all. So that's keeping me in my riding/sweating clothes for the time being, esp. w/ the warm season coming up. (I guess the *final* break would be platform pedals)

(ps chip I don't think a 'new commuter' has any effect on your global simplicity unless other bikes head out when it moves in, I'll be happy to help you downsize and take that big dummy off your hands)