It sounds like you're looking for a bike that basically has the tire clearance to support winter tires so yeah there are a few touring and cyclocross bikes that could let you swap in snow/ice tires. Surly LHT or CC, Salsa Casseroll... heck, the surly pugsley can have 4" snow tires and 2" 29er tires...

I have three different bikes and out of those three my Surly 1x1 frame is what I can call a 'do it all frame'.This frame has lot's of clearence, 26" wheels, 650B wheels, or narrow 29'er wheels all fit with ton's of clearence for full fenders. A choice of disk brakes or cantis. I can set it up as a singlespeed, fixed gear, IGH hub or with special adapter even a deraileur will work. Very easy to mount racks and fenders. This frame can be customized to do just about anything: commuting, singletrack, long distance rides, touring. Yes there will always be some little compromises but to me it's the most versatile frame I've ever had.

Part of that problem is just the term "cyclocross". Disc brakes aren't allowed in all cyclocross competitions (not yet, anyway), and the cyclocross label is usually attached to bikes meant for racing. So, when you peruse a catalog, the 'cross bikes likely will have cantis.

That leaves the "commuter" and "road" categories. Commuter bikes, as far as catalogs are concerned, are stereotypically flat bar bikes, maybe lighter than a manufacturer's hybrids (if they're different at all). Road bikes are usually expected to be race-ready, and weight weenies don't like disc brakes.

So, after all of that, we're left with the understanding that a popular form of do-it-all bike is difficult to categorize. Drops like a road bike, mounting tabs like a commuter or tourer, fenders like a cruiser, discs like a mountain bike -- what section of a manufacturer's catalog would you put that into (hypothetically speaking, anyway)?

Because of this, we're left to fend for ourselves. Here's a thread collecting the known drop bar'd-disc braked bikes that are configured as such straight from the manufacturer.
http://www.bikeforums.net/showthread...0c-off-the-peg

Some are cyclocross, some are urban, some are road, some are commuter, some are tourers...

Mt Trek 7500 is as close as I have managed to get with one bike... but it still can't touch my road bike for nekkid speed or my hardtail for the ability to hammer up and down the trails and do big drops.

Being that I am pretty average rider these days, this works (with two easily swappable wheel sets) to handle all 4 seasons, the on road, the off road, commuting, touring, and more than a little towing duty.

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...ekoffroad7.JPG

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...ekcommute1.jpg

http://www.ravingbikefiend.com/bikep...09commute4.JPG

The one problem I have with cyclocross bikes is that they generally won't take tires over 40 mm. That's why I did this:

http://farm3.static.flickr.com/2771/...080f4019d7.jpg

Of course, this bike is heavy and still a bit slow, so when the weather is nice I generally want to use one of my CX bikes. On the other hand, neither of them is really fast enough to keep me from wanting to add a nice light road bike to my collection. So, if we're talking about a single bike solution, what you've suggested may be the best compromise, but I'd definitely have to cast in with those who say anything is a compromise somewhere.

I saw a Salsa Vaya in person at Universal Cycles this weekend. It's a very sweet bike -- beautiful, steel, disc brakes, 40-ish mm tire clearance. I could see that in my future. I'm a bit disappointed to see the complete comes with BB5 brakes.

Ahhh, that explains that bit of curiosity.

One thing I noticed when shopping is that "commuter" bikes that are advertised as such often have even more upright stances than hybrids.

I'd probably put them in the "city" or "urban" category that some manufacturers are creating now (which often includes "commuters"). I think it's descriptive of their purpose of dealing with whatever might be encountered in a messy urban environment, ranging from smooth pavement to potholes, curbs, and dirt paths.

http://salsacycles.com/bikes/vaya/
That Vaya looks neat on the page, especially with the double eyelets on the dropouts and the rear caliper bracket inside the triangle. My LBS has been talking up the Jamis Aurora Elite, but this looks like a good alternative (also because I'd end up swapping the fenders and rack of the Jamis anyway, plus the Vaya has a better crank already).

A do all bike. I have a CX bike and a mountain bike. I love my CX and the ease of adding racks and just the pure simplicity, strong build, good components and so on. But I must say as a do all bike I would choose the mountain bike. With a good pair semi slicks I can hammer out a good pace on almost every surface. Not as fast a CX, not as fast a road bike, but not a slow ride either. If forced to choose, the MB is good (not great) for anything or any condition we come across here in my area. On trails it is faster than a CX bike with more control, in snow the MB hands down with a wider tire and straight bars offer greater control. I am glad I don't need to choose one single do all but if I did the decision would be easy.

That looks pretty sweet and the next time I am in your neck of the woods will keep an eye out for this bike... I was thinking of shipping my Trek down to Portland so I would have a good all around bike to use when I am there.

Never made it to Beaverton on my last visit but got pretty close.

On small gravel, my FS MTB is faster than me, as they say. I rode down the local stretch of the C&O last summer as fast as I could stand to pedal, and the bike just shrugged it off. Another rider on a CX bike was doing well, too, but by the time we got to Georgetown, he was pretty beat. I don't have a speedometer on my bike, but he said his was reading over 20 mph most of the time. No doubt the slope helped our speed, too (we were going in the downstream direction of the canal).

I don't think that a commuter bike is that much about compromises, it's a bike with a purpose. When you commute some things are not all that important, top speed is one of them IMHO, weight is another. Of course, this depends on what your commute is like: urban, open road, trails.

So for me, an urban commuter, a mountain bike with heavy wheels and thick tires is not a compromise because I probably won't even want to go faster than 15mph on crowded streets anyway (I can maintain 20mph comfortably though). It fits the bill perfectly because what's more important for me is toughness, comfort, all-weather ability, ability to carry cargo in waterproof bags and stopping power.

The bike I ride right now, that I just built in December, is as close to my perfect commuter as it can be. It satisfies my needs without any compromises. I commuted on several different bikes over the last few years including a regular road bike, a singlespeed road bike, a hardtail MTB, a full suspension MTB and each had some advantages and disadvantages but the road bikes were the worst for my commute. So that's why I decided to build my own commuter based on all those experiences. I tweaked it over few weeks and I shaped it up to be a nearly perfect commuter. I'll just get new wheels and upgrade from old Hayes brakes to Avid BB7 and it will be done!

I will be able to commute on this bike any day, during any season, during any weather, I'll be able to bring with me anything I may need for my work day, I will be able to run any errands I may need. I just have a another wheelset with studded tires for quick swap. So for me this is a do-all commuter.

Now, can you have one bike that will DO ALL, including everything else besides commuting: trail rides, club rides, organized events, heavy hauling, touring. My guess is: not really :D

Adam

If you are a commuter / tourer / mountain biker / utilitarian rider / roadie / polo player there may not be one bike to rule them all... this is why I have 13 bikes.

:)

OP, with a road and mtb bike you have 4 season commuting covered.
My Tricross is fun in the winter. My MTB makes easier work of heavier snow
and frozen tire ruts.
If I were your uncle, I would let you try out a utility bike like this
for touring, Christmas shopping or doing errands.:)

Obviously not. Every bike is a compromise. Even a road bike on pavement in the summer is a compromise sometimes. The ideal bike for going down a hill isn't perfectly ideal for going up them. If there were even an ideal road bike they wouldn't change to different bikes in different parts of the TdF.

I don't have one perfect commuter. When I want to go fast, I ride the road bike. When I have lots to haul, its the CX bike with panniers. When I'm feeling lazy, it's the single speed to the train. I love to ride each of them, but they each have a different purpose. I guess that's just part of the fun of it.

The best part of biking to Beaverton from Portland is that it gets you half way to the open roads of western Washington County. :D It's fairly different than the downtown Portland bike scene, but better IMO. We never have traffic jams in the bike lanes.

Say hello if you make it out this way.

That's on the extreme end of the spectrum. I think the OP was thinking in more general terms. This is not possible nor practical for most people. You'd need a SAG wagon to go with you on each commute :D

Adam

I'll second this. I've got a commuter with cyclocross geometry and spacing (it's nearly identical in geometry and sizing to a Surly CC), and it truly is a do-it-all. I can put 28c tires on it and go as fast as the wonderbike roadies in my club (granted, not THAT fast), pick up a 40 lb bag of dog food on the rear rack, cruise to the coffee shop, take it down rutted dirt roads, and average 15-17 mph on a very rough commute, or I can throw on 38c tires when the mud starts flying and go off-roading with it, or just tackle the commute once the thaw hits.


If you can do it on a bike, this bike can do it. That said, I built it basically from a frame and wheelset - everything is done to my specification. You couldn't buy a bike like this from the store. So, if you wanted to get a frameset and build from there, I'd start with a frame that can cope with at least 35mm tires and fenders, can be racked front and back, and is large enough that the bottom of the drops is about at your knees when your legs are at the top of the pedal stroke.

Of course, it's not going to be as fast (at 32 lbs) as the 15 lb carbon bikes, nor as pretty as a Rivendell A Homer Hilsen, or as tough as an Indian 3 speed, but if push came to shove, I'd pit this bike against any of those three for usability, durability, repairability, and reliability. Chances are I'd get damn close. I prove that every day I ride the thing.

At least, that's my opinion, and you know what they say about those...

There's no such thing as too many bikes. N+1

this is my Hunter 29er
it takes any 700c tyre
last year I did 3 double centuries on it
I ride it on club rides
i ride it in the dirt
i rode it from Portland to Ventura
and placed 3rd at 12hrs of Humboldt while enroute from Portland to Ventura, while touring.
it takes fenders, racks, panniers, and frame bags.

last sunday we rode about 5,000ft of climbing, 54 miles, in 4.5hrs, on the pave

i don't own a car
so far this week i'm a bit over 160 miles

www.AsanaCycles.com


this is my do everything bike
short of hauling mega stuff, for that I use the Big Dummy.

the 29er with 44x11t gearing and a set of WTB Vulpines is about the same gear inch as a road bike with 23c tyres in 53x12t
its plenty fast
yesterday, i spun it up with some buddies during a sprint at 38.2mph