KonaCommuter wrote:To late for the OP however if anyone is looking for a commuter bike here's a few things I would look for
* Mud Guards fitted as standard not an after thought. Trying to add them to my bikes cost me just shy of $200 and I was still unhappy with the results
* Pannier racks - backpacks are OK but riding sans backpack is better. Panniers ROCK but TBH I'm rolling with a milk crate at the moment.
* Bike stand = convenient...
Really? It cost near $200 for mudguards? Wow. I hate mud guards, but the practicality of having them on a commuter won me over. I have a Shogun Trailbreaker which is a hardtail mountain bike which I've converted to a commuter and I just whacked on a $20 set of crud catchers from
Wiggle. Although, you might have some designer tastes (they're not exactly the prettiest things, lol). But I agree, for a commuter, mudguards are a must.

I commute with a backpack but with a pannier you wouldn't suffer from sweaty back syndrome like I do

Plus you can pick up a 6 pack on your way home easier with a pannier, it acts as a mudguard and it weighs the back of the bike down when you go jumping

I would also look at the weight of the bike as well. There are a couple of new commuter bikes in my workplace at the moment and the owners paid a good lot more than ye olde trailbreaker and yet their bikes are significantly heavier, despite paying $700 or more for their bikes. I don't know if there's a reason for the weight, but to me it's unnecessary and I don't know what they've done to make them weigh so much. I'm not a weight weenie by any means, but the weight difference is ridiculous.
Cheers.