Quote Originally Posted by Laterider21958 View Post
Sorry for interrupting the thread, but I am wondering what difficulties you encountered when using your road bike for commuting and shopping. Was it lack of carrying capacity (i.e. rack/panniers) or something else? Just curious as I have a hybrid and may in the future get a road bike. I'm still a bit of a newbie, so forgive dumb questions!
I'd bet on "can't fit a rack". Not all bikes have braze-ons (bike-speak for "screw holes") for a rack. Good sturdy racks for groceries need to be screwed onto your bike in several places, and most of the ways of attaching a rack without screws just aren't very sturdy.

A touring bike will at least have braze-ons for a back rack, 2-3 water bottles and a frame pump. Usually they'll be set up to take fenders, a front rack and both skinny slicks and fairly fat knobby tires too. They're a good choice of road bike for normal people because of that.