Opine on a commuter bicycle for me

I know it's been covered before, but things seem to change every year and I know we have some serious bicycle nuts on here.

Here is the skinny. I now work close enough to my house (less than three miles) that a bicycle commute may actually work. Add to that that there is a shower and some lockers at work, and it the excuses really start to dwindle. I used to rely on bicycle transportation all the time when I lived in NY, so I know what it entails, mostly (angry people in cars and crappy weather).

I've got an old mountain bike. It's at least 25 years old. I don't want to do the math, it scares me. Hard tail, no front suspension. It's ragged, but it works. That's about all I can say for it. It runs out of gears on flat pavement or going downhill. There are no fender mounting points or provisions for a cargo rack. So, I'm looking to upgrade.

I prefer a more upright seating position versus the ram-horn bars on true road bikes. I won't be doing single-track trails, but the commute will involve curb-hopping, uneven pavement and potholes. Based on these two things, I think a hybrid bike might be the way to go. I don't know about the relative quality level of components, or how much difference they make. I don't go on 20 mile rides, but it isn't out of the question once I start getting back in shape, either. 

• I want fenders (front and rear) to keep the water and mud off of me.
• I probably want a cargo rack.
• I want tall enough gearing to keep up a good speed on pavement
• I want it to last a while. As noted above, I'll be hopping curbs and I'm thinking that skinny, long distance tires/rims will get destroyed.
• I rode a bike with disk brakes and it was amazing. I'm not sure I need disks
• I have to be able to mount a front facing white light and a rear facing blinky red light.
• Budget is at the absolute most $700. If I can spend less, I will.
• New or used, don't care.

That's about it. Which leaves me spoiled for choices. Hell, I don't even know if I need a $700 bike or if a $300 bike will do. I know a $200 bike will probably suck in some way, though.

I was looking at these two, but haven't ridden them yet

Giant in high-vis green

Trek - also in high-vis green

Help?
 

If you make it back up to the NY metro area I've got a Trek FX 7.3 (probably a 2007: https://archive.trekbikes.com/us/en/2007/trek/73fx#/us/en/2007/trek/73fx/details ) I grabbed a few months ago with "jammed gears" - new upgraded FD, a couple cables, and a good cleaning and it's ready to go. I'll give you a GRM pricing deal on it.

With the Performance Bike bankruptcy, you might be able to score a good deal there. I'd watch their stores for markdowns, you might be able to get some better componentry inside your budget.

I think you should retrofit this bicycle with a single-speed-with-freewheel drivetrain and a set of slick tires. 

For that sort of money and use- a brand new Motobecane CX bike with the decals stripped off is the hot setup, especially if you can do some work on it yourself to tune it up, better tires as the stockers wear, stuff like that.  

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/disc-brake-roadbikes/stradacmsport-discbrake-steel.htm

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/motobecane/gravel-bikes/gravel-x3-discbrake-gravel-bikes.htm

http://www.bikesdirect.com/products/gravity/zilla-1x-gravel-bikes.htm

Any one of those would be great, B-D is decent stuff for the $$ and you won't cry when your $2500 bike gets jacked, rusty, you hit a car, a car hits you, etc.  

In the great tradition of GRM, do a drivetrain swap on the bike you have now and catch up on deferred maintenance.  Get a great-performing bike for a fraction of what a new one would cost. 

You'll have to decide whether you want flat bars or drops (like a road bike). I personally prefer drops as you get more hand positions and the narrower bars fit through doors better. From the two bikes you listed I would lean towards the Trek, mainly because of the rigid fork. Suspension forks at that level of bike are going to be heavy and not very good, they also cost more so you are going to sacrifice other things to have them (crappier wheels, brakes, drivetrain etc.). 

Used bikes if you can find something suitable can be a good deal and fixing up the old bike hanging in the garage can be a great option too. Fenders and racks are great, even if you aren't riding in the rain it will keep you cleaner and the rack will keep all of your stuff off of your back so you don't work up a sweat as easily.

Adam

3 miles is nothing.  Just replace the tires on your old bike with street tread and replace the brake pads.  Maybe a little gear shifter tune-up.   When I was much younger I had a job that was 5 miles away through a city (New Orleans).  I could ride my bike to work in under 20 minutes. This was less time than either riding the bus, 45 minutes, or driving, 35 minutes which included having to walk from a parking lot and paying $5.00/day to park.    I just stored the bike in a closet.