Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Madison, WI
Posts: 11,206
Bikes: 1961 Ideor, 1966 Perfekt 3 Speed AB Hub, 1994 Bridgestone MB-6, 2006 Airnimal Joey, 2009 Thorn Sherpa, 2013 Thorn Nomad MkII, 2015 VO Pass Hunter, 2017 Lynskey Backroad, 2017 Raleigh Gran Prix, 1980s Bianchi Mixte on a trainer. Others are now gone.
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I think for commuting, you should decide what works best, and you should decide which you prefer, flat bars or drop bars. I did not commute by bike before I retired, but had friends that did. One friend almost qualified for olympic road racing a couple decades ago, he commuted on an old Bridgestone mountain bike that had more rust than paint and flat bars. Another bought a LHT specifically for commuting. Another friend that is not mechanically inclined went into a bike shop and said he wanted a maintenance free commuting bike, or as close as possible to maintenance free. They sold him a bike with a Shimano internally geared hub. I was a little surprised that it did not come with a belt, he occasionally has to add chain lube. Last time I rode somewhere with him, I reminded him that he should lube the chain on occasion, as it was pretty noisy.
If your commute is hilly, you want low gears but minimal weight. If your commute is flatter, weight does not matter much.
And commuting, you want something that is less desirable to a potential bike thief. I live in a community with a large university campus. If I have a reason to go to campus, I use my errand bike that is an early 90s Bridgestone mountain bike I bought at a garage sale for $5 USD. (It needed another $50 in parts to make it rideable.) The formerly painted steel handlebars have a nice brown rust colored patina.