In broad terms, the ideal commuter for the journey you do/would like to do. Oh, and how it compares to what you ride now.
Me:
Titanium framed road bike. Not heavy. Full guard and pannier mounts. Disc mounts. Dynamo lights.
Currently riding alu road bike, which is a bit heavy and very dead feeling. Commute is 17 miles each way now, soon to change to 25 each way with hills.
You?
I've already got mine. Fixie Inc Peacemaker, 43:18 fixed, two brakes, absolutely filthy and completely de-logoed, so it looks unattractive to theives. Lights are duck-taped on.
Light and theft proof, including all of the detachable bits (like forks, brakes). Noisy, so that pedestrians can hear me, and lit up like a Christmas tree, so that crazy taxi drivers can't ignore me.
Nearly finbars, but with gears too, for going up and down the one evil hill I have.
Ideally it wouldn't have pedals, handlebars or spokes, so that I could park it in the train station bike rack, seemingly designed by someone that has never seen a bike.
The joy of Bristol commuting...
Similar to finbar, fuji track (s/s rather than fixed), two brakes, job done
SAme as you OMITN, I ride a steel bike with that spec already though.
I wish i could just do it on my Cannondale six road bike and have somewhere safe to leave it at the other end
my commute is entirely canal, 6 miles on tarmac/hardcore, 7 miles of rough track, some bits are very rough. I chose a mountain bike frame/rigid forks, that would take proper mudguards, could be used for commutes and mtb, all parts compatible with my other bikes, fast/light mtb tyres. key thing was a headset that used a split crown race, so I could easily change between 3 different forks.
I have been looking for a more mtb tourer type bike, but not found anything I like yet.
Summer or winter? the roads here are pothole-hell at the mo' with gravel traps from the shonky road covering the district council 'fixed' the roads with last year.
Winter - titanium cross bike, singlespeed (can't remember the gearing). Currently running a Surly x-check quite battered
Summer = any decent road bike.
Current job has pretty secure, dry lockup facilities.
My cannondale 'race' bike, but with rack and guard mounts. Then I could sell the tourer and the singlespeed and just commute on the race bike, and run it SS with a tensioner in winter.
Summer or winter?
Year round. Living in the sub-tropical north west of England, I regularly need mudguards in the summer.
I want something light and comfortable, but reasonably versatile. Current bike should do all these things, but it's always felt lumpen and lacking in zip.
ahh the one size fits all approach for summer / winter road riding.
Just for the commute I'd probably stick with a s/s but something a bit lighter and better balanced.
Same as the OP .
I like the idea of a Ti cross frame with disc mounts and all the braze ons .
ahh the one size fits all approach for summer / winter road riding
Not quite. Carbon race bike can do what it does in the summer/decent weather. I use my winter bike for year round commuting, so something that fills a sizeable amount of my bike time is what prompted this.
oh that's ok then as long as there are alternate options on sunny days for the long way home 
Yep Ti cross frame - not sure about the dynamo lights but then I've not tried them as I use my lumicycles. How would the dynamo cope with the winter salt? It's why I switched to s/s after the corrosion of a couple of years ago.
Ti frame, touring geomoetry, rack and mudguard mounts, hub gears, disk brakes, drop bars, MTB SPD's, lots of reflective bits, good lights but all made to look like it is worth nothing
Probably a Triumph Tiger 800 
I do use the ideal bike for my commute 
I built mine last month :o)
mmmmmmm nice ericemel! 
given my ideal commute would involve a bit of street riding, a session on the bmx track, a half decent off road descent (found this morning) and a spin along some flat with a bit more street chucked in. i recon a small chuckable singlespeed hardtail would be perfect.
its a shame my commute home from the above involves a sodding great big hill and pretty much 100% uphill riding for which a small chuckable singlespeed hardtail is unsuitable so i have comprimised and gone for a smaller xc bike set up a bit more fun.
however i still think i`m wasting my commute to work and just need to man up and ride a more fun bike.
you wouldnt catch me on one of those skinny wheeled things with drop bars. i might get to work quicker but who wants that when you can be out on a bike having fun?
Hang on a minute! Titanium this? Carbon fibre that?! Stop this ponceyness at once!!! Blasphemers!! Have you forgotten where you are?!!
FFS!!!! Commuters are ratty steel singlespeeds that have been built entirely out of bits you found in the corner of the garage for less than the cost of a Macdonalds Happy Meal.
I suggest you lot go and sit in the corner, grow a beard and have a think about exactly what it is you've done
My Genesis IO singlespeed is my ideal commuter for my south mancs / Irlam / warrington commute (started commutng again yesterday )
ericemel has put up a picture of what I was just about to describe, albeit there's no mudguards!
Ti fixed gear, plenty mudguard clearance so I can use Marathon Pluses through the winter and CX tyres in summer. Front brake only please. Un-mess-up-able crank/BB setup so that I don't have to worry about destroying the square taper cranks following the rare occasions the bike is stripped and cleaned (suggestions welcome!)
Dynamo lights for when I forget to charge the Exposure. Rack mounts for easy fitting of child seat for nursery transportation. Speedplay pedals, Izumi Supertough chain.
Commute's about 10 miles each way, main roads if I take the winter roadie, towpath mostly if I take the fixed.
Lightweight fixie cross bike. Fast on the road, reasonably capable off. Mudguards that don't rattle or get in the way but still work. Puncture proof tyres, cranks and frame that don't snap, disk brakes that don't need adjustment.
this?
Milk Bikes - White Prototype 4 by Milk Bikes, on Flickr
a robust road bike, fitted with Bren gun and grenade launcher
I am currently using a Specialized Tarmac with 105 and Mavic Aksiums. It is fine. If I wanted to ride on particularly wet roads I would use the Condor Fratello with full length guards and 105.
Something that'll allow me to pick up a couple of bins, or a kayak, or a ladder, or a weeks shop on the way home.
Something like my current bike, but with a hub gear and a belt drive for reduced maintenance. The Milk bike above looks quite promising except it has cable discs, no mud guards and looks skinny enough to be a steel frame.
My current commuter is a Doctor Dew with 2x9 gears and disc brakes.
EDIT: Ooh and if you could finish an entire frame (and forks) in a Scotchlite style that'd be (literally) brilliant!
Brakes got there first, but
Hang on a minute! ...
I suggest you lot go and sit in the corner, grow a beard and have a think about exactly what it is you've done
Cannondale Bad Boy Rohloff would be my choice. My commute is nearly entirely off road and at the moment it's a mudfest. I've got the Rohloff which is brilliant for such conditions but a little suspension would make things even better. I had been running my Rebas locked out for a couple of months but went back to full rigid a week or so ago. What surprised me most of all was the extra traction the little bit of movement in the Rebas gave. I reckon the headshock would be perfect in such conditions.
Already got it- a Revolution Courier Race. Flat bars, 8 gears, big mudguards and 700c wheels with fat slicks. Tough as old boots, impervious to neglect, and looks like crap. Pretty much perfect.
Will be getting my ideal commuter in the next few days...
Sabbath September. Sadly just a frameset built up with old parts although am treating it to some new wheels - Dura Ace, Open Pro, Sapim Laser, Alu Polyax Nipples.
28 miles each way, try and do it at least a couple of times a week.
this is mine, mostly mtb stuff as I like the redundancy
EDIT: could be lighter though...
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