Bike paradox

Once we make the move to Louisville, we will be a one car vehicle couple. This will be a significant change from 2 cars and a motorcycle. For the last several weeks we have been using just one car and the motorcycle as the Isuzu Rodeo basically needs a new transmission. Given that we had decided not to take it with us in the first place, we weren't all that upset when the gears started slipping some, and we will be turning it in (hopefully) as part of the "cash for clunkers" program. Yes, California, with all its dysfunctional mess of a state budget, will pay us money so we don't have to find someone willing to buy it. We've been trying to straighten out a title issue where instead of making her the owner when she paid it off, they made her the lienholder, so the state thinks there is a lien on the car. Yes, California, that is correct. We owe ourselves nothing for the car, but we don't want to sign it over to ourselves. This way, if we get out of line, we can use the car and threaten to repossess it from ourselves to ourselves.

At any rate, the plan once we move is to live close to school, so that on most days I will just bike to work. If it's bad weather (rain and cold happen far more often in Louisville than in Orange County) I'll just make Collyn drive me in and then I can walk home or take public transportation or whatever. We'll work out the details later.

I still have my Trek that I bought as a kid. I haven't used it much in the last decade so it needed some work. I spent a couple hundreds bucks on tubes, tires, a helmet, sunglasses, and a new pump on the same day we bought the TV and computer. That day made me a bit lighter in the wallet. My pump and helmet sort of worked, but I hate pumping tires with a worn out pump and considering the helmet is one of the early foam ones that had the stretch lycra cover, and that riding without sunglasses hurts my eyes from the wind, I went ahead and spent the money. The bike has been garaged, so it just needed a cleaning and lubing. It still runs smooth and quiet.

The problem is that it isn't going to be that great for commuting because:
1: It can only handle width up to 25mm, which is a little thin for urban roads
2: It can't take most fenders and I don't know that it will take a rack of any kind
3: It doesn't have a chain guard, so I'm likely to end up with chain grease on my pants.

So I've been looking into commuter bikes. Ideally I would like something like the bike I have, but able to handle wider tires, take a fender, rear rack and a chain guard.

I have found a few nice looking options, but I've also found an interesting paradox:

As bikes move away from racing form they get heavier and slower, but often more durable. This is to be expected as it's like this with any vehicle. Comfort and the ability to handle varied terrain come at the expense of speed. A lot of cyclists recognize this and comment that you should take the time to enjoy the commute, travel more scenic roads, and let off the pace because it's not training or a race.

But then you find out that they gear up in full bike gear to ride to work, where they arrive so sweaty they need a shower or a full wipe down, and a half hour to cool down.

Here's the way I see it: If you're going to mash gears and ride hard, get the fastest bike that will do the job. If you're going to get a heavy, steel framed commuter complete with a generator hub, full rack, paniers, chain guard, internal gear hub, etc, then just wear your work clothes and cruise on in to work like it's a casual stroll.

My dilemma is that I don't want a slow, relaxed geometry ride, but I want to be able to ride in normal clothes and not have to worry much about maintenance. Bad weather will make this even more difficult. I will likely end up buying another bike, but I'm going to wait and see how it all shakes out. Something like the Trek Soho wouldn't be a bad way to go.