I’m primarily a commute/light errand rider, and do a bit of recreational riding on the side.

• Upright riding position, flat bars and flat pedals for comfort and compatibility with dressing for the destination.
• Bosses for Fenders, Fenders, for more weather independence. (I love my SKS B53s, even if I had to do some creative modification to fit them.)
• Bosses for a Rack, Rack for carrying stuff. (I’m satisfied with my Ibera, the finish isn’t holding up great). Paired with a stack of bungees and velcro straps.
• Aluminum frame a little for easier lifting, and a lot so it doesn’t rust when it inevitably gets scraped up locking to badly designed racks and sits wet while I’m out.
• Mid-Width, semi-treaded “All-Road” type tires. I’m not racing, I want comfortable, puncture resistant, and grip in the debris filled bike gutter lane.
• Inexpensive enough that it isn’t a huge disaster if something happens to it.
• (Accessory) Good front and back lights. I’m pretty happy with my Metrolights.
• (Accessory) Some reflective Velcro ankle cuffs for visibility and because again, I dress for the destination and I haaaate the feeling of cuffs rubbing/snagging on the bike.
• (Accessory) A U-Lock good enough that I’m not the low-hanging fruit on the rack. In my area a KryptoLok is sufficient because there are plenty of optimistic folks with cables around.

I have a few year old Giant Escape Disc 3 to meet that criteria. In retrospect, a “2”, one trim up with the 2x8 Altus instead of the 3x7 Tourney would probably have been more suitable. The tourney is clunky, constantly drifts out of alignment enough to rub, and has kind of stupid stupid range and spacing.