[Closed] Another what commuter thread.

Morning all. I've been reading a load of the commuter threads with interest as in a month I'll be starting commuting to work (I can't park outside the flat I'm moving to).

Now the commute itself is tiny, only 1.5 miles each way, so I could technically buy a cheap SS BSO to get the job done. However, (a) this bike will become the shopper and pub bike as well and I live in a valley with some steep climbs so I want gears, (b) this is all the excuse I need for n+1, (c) I intend to use it to cover some (leisurely) weekend miles over winter.

However, I'm not really familiar with the dark side. I had a defy for a short while and really didn't like the riding position: too low for me, I didn't feel that I could get a good look around at traffic.

The bike needs:
- Gears
- Mudguards or ability to fit mud guards
- Drop bars but fairly upright position
- Ideally: To be lovely to ride but look cheap so that it becomes less of a thief target at the pub.
- Small budget - around £600 top end.

I know thats a small budget and I should look second hand, but time is ticking and I haven't really seen anything that tickles my fancy. I'm currently considering:

-Boardman CX comp from halfords
-Revolution continental
- 2013 saracen hack going cheap
- Kinesis racelight.

My head says the hack as the spec is much better but It just doesn't tick the boxes for me, whereas the race light I can get I tiagra build on cheap and love the look but suspect I would hate the ride.

Opinions, anything else I should be looking at? I see Merlin have some cheap group sets at the moment so could build up around the right frame.

As always, thank you for the time!