Doxory?

milele: I want to bike to work, and currently need to bring two bags each way. My old bike is heavy and uncomfortable.

Asked 2 years ago

kevinr: It's unclear to me that a good road bike would be, strictly speaking, less comfortable than a cruiser bike. People put a hell of a lot of miles on road bikes. Me, I'd get a good bike and then mod it for comfort (better seat, better grips, fenders, better shocks(?) etc), not the other way around. Also, you may find that a nice set of panniers, mounted on a rack on the back of your bike, is a reasonable substitute for the bags you currently carry. (When I went looking for a bike, I asked for a "commuting bike" -- looks like lots of good, technical advice at http://www.faughnan.com/touringbike.html as found via a cursory Google for "commuting bike".)
seph: but I don't like cruiser bikes
aletta: A good road bike is more comfortable than a cruiser, IME.
tibbetts: You will get used to the road bike, and it really is more comfortable for long rides.
djdrue: cruiser bikes look cool when they are parked. curiously though, when you see someone on them, they never look as cool as you thought they would. Get to road-bike (or better yet, a hybrid)
ghstomahawks: Err ... road bikes sacrifice comfort? I'm rather fond of mine, and feel it to be quite comfortable though?
gradster1: Why the old fart part? What makes you look old when you have a cruiser bike? *searches Google* Oh. Yeah, I'll go with the road bike. How uncomfortable can it be?

hzatz: Go for comfort. With Darwin around, you've got enough stuff in your life already.
jmorzins: We need more old farts.
kyrandil: There's no "fast and comfortable" option?
lakmiseiru: cruiser bikes are super-comfy and don't make you look like an old fart; they're quite common here at MIT among students.
ManWorkingHere: Buy the more comfortable bike if you only use it for commuting. When you want to ride for healthier reasons, but a road bike later.
ksil83: don't forget your helmet, old fart!

jtu: Get a zippy hybrid.
jesse: Hybrids are the way and the light.
ntn: Buy a touring bike, they're built for comfort, durability, and carrying loads, but they also have lots of attention paid to efficiency.
sauergeek: If you're riding around anywhere the roads are bad, or if you have to store the bike outside, get a beater bike and just use that. Keeping a road bike clean in ugly weather is nontrivial.

If you make a stupid choice because a website tells you to, it's your own damn fault.