How about finding a road bike that will accept wider tires, like 32mm, and high spoke count wider rims? Although I think that cross bikes are a more traditional choice.

x10 for a cyclocross and dont disregard carbon, carbon is incredibly strong, light and absorbs vibrations. I commute everyday in NYC with a carbon and love it.

Schwalbe Big Apples

Yes, spending $4,000 on your city commuter will definitely help you keep up if not pass all the other riders...

Anything will do. It's hard to say what you'd be happy with. I happen to like road bikes best. My main commuter bike currently is a Bianchi Volpe which could be a called a cyclocross bike, but not really, since it's way too heavy. Normally, I prefer to be semi-upright in the city, but the fit is so good that I'm very happy with the drop bars. I have 32mm tires on it. Any bike can take the beating that the city will dish out. That's not the question. One question is what you'll be comfortable on. Performance is another thing. Slow bikes punish you for exerting yourself too hard, and this is why I'm glad you're hoping to skip hybrids. I'm not a fan of those bikes. So I'd say your instinct to look into cyclocross bikes is a good one, at least to my taste. And taste is a big factor in deciding which style of bike you choose.

No expert here, but perhaps a fairly inexpensive steel cyclocross bike would be in order. I doubt you would be unhappy and it might be a fairly cheap route to learn what you really want in a bike, so when you are ready to drop $2K, you are better informed.
http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/...fantom_cxx.htm
http://www.nashbar.com/bikes/Product...17_-1___202339

Might give you a smoother ride and more rugged than an aluminum cross bike at around the same cost. Probably a little heavier though. Both have braze-ons for fenders and rear racks I think.

The other option I would second is a nice steel MTB with slicks. I have a 1993 Mt. Shasta with 1.75" slicks and it's a lot of fun. Definitely a bulletproof with enough quickness that it's more up to you as the rider at that point.

the Bus..

+2.

Put slick tires on your MTB and you'll notice a world of difference. Suspension is anther thing that can suck up energy (if you have front suspension, replacing it with a solid fork is a very cheap and undoable upgrade.

Putting on bar-ends so you can move your position to be a bit more forward and aero can help as well (and clip-on aerobars although somewhat silly looking on a MTB can work here as well).

To the OP, almost all of the fastest riders ride road bikes, but just because you ride a road bike doesn't make you one of the fastest riders. There are cheap upgrades that you can make to your existing bike that will make it a lot faster - riding it much more and getting in better shape is pretty much at the top of the list.

I commute in Chicago 365. Chicago is flat and you can use whatever bike you like - fixed/single speed, mtg, hybrid, cross, road, european city, cruiser or frankenbike. The choice is yours. Your are over thinking the situation. I commute on a road bike (nice one) 3 seasons and switch to a hybrid for the winter. Only things to consider is where you are going to park it during the work day. Theft is a major concern so don't get a bike for your commute that you aren't afraid to have ripped off (no $2000 road bikes unless they sit in your workspace or secured parking). If you are worried about being passed, get over it. It ain't the bike , its the motor.

There is very little difference between high-end hybrids and fredly carbon road bikes. The trek 7.7 FX hybrid is a madone 4.5 with flat bars and the carbon sirruses are just flat bar roubaix/crux.

This bike has been making me drool:
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bik...val-disc#specs

+1 to this. I'm also a year-round Chicago commuter. I use an old Schwinn touring bike (also my, uhhh, bike I use for touring) and a Bianchi SS/fixed (with studs sometimes in the winter) for almost all of my commuting, running 28-32mm tires on both. At your price range, the easiest (and from what I see, most common) solution is to go buy an all-purpose road bike (Surly Crosscheck, Bianchi Volpe, etc) that runs about $1000 and get some heavy duty locks.

Road bikes aren't the delicate little flowers many people make them out to be. The reputation comes mainly from old-school box section rims, and today's fashionable low-spoke-count wheels. Contemporary aluminum rims with a sensible number of spokes won't give you problems.

I live in the city, and work in the city. Hell, I even work FOR the city. (And like Chicago, we're also on a Great Lake.) I've been car-free since 1999. All I own are road bikes. Okay, my four-seasons all-conditions commuter has healthy doses of both cyclocross and touring bikes in its DNA, but still, it's instantly recognizable as a roadie, and was sold as a high-speed urban commuter.

My bikes commute through this

http://www.brucew.com/images/vsalon/...ay-2-sepia.jpg

And this

http://www.brucew.com/gallery/albums...work.sized.jpg

This second photo, BTW, is an example of the type of wheel that should be avoided. I got only 4,000 miles out of them, and 4,000 miles out of the warranty replacement set. When I replaced them--only two years after I bought the bike--it was with these:

http://www.brucew.com/images/wordpre...wheel-cx-1.jpg
http://www.brucew.com/images/wordpre...heel-sized.jpg

That's what I mean about a sensible number of spokes. These wheels have been trued once in the five years I've had them. And that's only because I'm so picky about it.

So if you don't want to plod along on a hybrid, don't worry. A roadie with decent wheels is up to the task.

I say Salsa Vaya but I'm prejudiced:
http://salsacycles.com/bikes/2014_vaya_3

Well TSL, looks like life is good, eh! :)

This. Just food for thought: I routinely pass roadies on my fully-loaded Trek Allant (~50 pounds). Strong legs beat lighter bikes on everything except going up hills. I don't remember seeing any hills in Chicago last time I was there. :)

You will get faster startups with a road bike though. Are the other riders passing you mid-block, or are they beating you at the red lights?

Hey guys,

Just picked a jamis sputnik off CL for 160. Its a little dinged up (scratches, no noticable dents- a few of the screws are rusty- seatpost, the bolts where I kind of want to switch to quick release, etc), but I figured for the price, I couldn't go wrong.

I can honestly say that it was definitely the bike that was slowin me down. This thing takes probably 1/2 the effort to maintain the same speeds as the mtn. Not to say that all road bikes will make that big of a difference, i think this one was just really old.

Thanks for the help, I'll probably still consider a cx bike or another road bike down the road, but for now, this should do. I just need to figure out some cheap upgrades for this thing for the time being (quick release for the wheels maybe).

The only problem is that i get a much better workout with the mtn bike, so I'll probably keep it around for when I'm feelin like a hard trek.