nice
if you can't get to the ultegra brakes, think about new brake pads.
It does look like the bike has mounts for a nice rack installation should you ever want to. I personally prefer racks, but using back pack as I am not putting a rack on the De Rosa or the Team Miayata
an option i like for commuting is double side flat/spd pedals I think I still get more efficiency clipped in. (weekends i put the spd-sl pedals on )
commuting rocks