Bike Forums - Advice for a new commuter

Shopping around for a new commuter bike. I currently have a light-ish Ti road bike with 105 and a drop-bar MTB with slicks, fenders, and 35 lbs of heft. Looking for something in-between for commuting and not-so-great weather rec riding. Does *not* need to take a rack, if I need to haul stuff I'll use my MTB. Requirements:

1. 700c wheels
2. Able to take fenders
3. Discs - really want to try disc brakes this time around.

I also have a slight preference towards 9 speed (Sora). Reason being is that I have a pile of 9 speed parts so I'm set on replacements, and I can share with my other bike :)

I've narrowed it down to three:
1. CAADX Sora - great price, great specs, meh on the looks. The geometry is not a great fit for me, the geo is very similar to my road bike (@54cm), I'd like something a hair smaller. Also it's BB30, I'd prefer BSA although I know you can get an adapter (and I think the sora model even comes with one built in).
2. Traitor Ruben - really like the looks, steel is appealing, but not as good a deal as the others. Geo seems great, the 53 is just shorter than my road bike as far as reach so it should be comfortable for commuting.
3. Ridley X-Bow - just found this one last night. It is cheap, and CC still has my size in stock. Best components of the lot (BB7 brakes, full sora including crank). Funny geo but the 51 seems like it would be a good fit.

I think it is mostly between #2 and #3 . The Traitor is better looking but the Ridley seems much better equipped, cheaper, and would likely perform better as well. What do, bikeforums?