I've actually been in this debate over and over again on the bike forums. The attitude you present is pretty common among the biking elite. They're convinced there's no need for cruisers or utility bikes. They discount the needs of people like me, which is one reason I was so turned off by the little punks who seem to dominate every bike shop in town.
Actually, I said there's not much need for that sort of bike among the bike commuters around
here. There's also not much of a market for what you see in Europe because cycling in the US is seen as either a recreational sport of a child's pasttime (a bad thing I admit). I actually like those style bikes (especially the Raleigh 3spds) and have tried to get one via ebay for the past year, but it would only get use around the neighborhood and for trips to the store.
You can do what you want, but I find it pretty absurd to ride to the store on a mountain bike with no fenders, no basket and a tiny rack then carry everything back home in a backpack, getting splattered because you think fenders are uncool.
Every bike I've owned had the capabilities to use racks and fenders though. I've seen fenders in the past two bike shops I've visited and even bikes on the floor with fenders mounted. You don't typically see them on mountain bikes because it's just another way to get crap jammed into your wheels, same with racks. Folks that aren't riding for recreation tend to have fenders and even racks. Folks who use their bikes for recreation and fitness generally choose not to use fenders because they don't need them and can choose not to ride when the roads and trails are wet.
Mountain bikes, touring bikes, and downhill bikes can all be used for commuting. But that doesn't make them a good choice for utility bikes.
I never said they did. I simply mentioned them to offer alternatives in gear and thinking. No one bike is perfect for everything, they all have shortcomings.
The irony is, the bikes I prefer are also by far the most common bikes on the planet everywhere except the US. Billions of them have been made, and you can find them flying around everywhere from Amsterdam to Singapore. But here, if someone wants a solid, simple bike with a #$@ basket they're considered some kind of atavistic freak.
The two shops nearby have bikes like you describe. Some of those bikes even have baskets, fenders, and racks.
Any bike I ride will need to be able to withstand enormous physical forces. Give me your toughest, coolest mountain bike and I guarantee I can bust the spokes, bend the forks and snap the cranks.
I'm gonna have to call BS on this one. Bicycle tourers who ride all over the world, including Alaska, with everything they need to live (upwards of 200lbs in some cases) don't have this problem. "Extreme" mountain bikers do, but they're flinging themselves and their bikes off dropoffs and jumps taller than themselves. That's why their bikes are heavier, they have to deal with that sort of abuse.
The last mountain bike I had, I ran into a concrete post and accordioned the supposedly indestructible alloy frame.
Whoever told you that frame was indestructable was lying to you. No bike frame is indestructible or even sold that way. That said, I've personally run into trees, berms, etc with my bikes without busting the frame. My old bike sports a cracked shifter where I ran into a tree at 15mph because I couldn't stop or swerve in time. I rode that bike another 3 months before retiring it to get the bike I currently ride.
Chris
