I am like you about the beefier frame on a mtb for the road. I went with the Gary Fisher Utopia with narrow tires (you know, I guess they are slicks but more narrow) and rack with wire baskets. I like having mtb handlebars instead of the drop bars, I just would never use them the way you should. It feels too unnatural for me. Plus, I like the bigger frame. Call me crazy but I'm perfectly happy with it. I even got disc brakes which people think is a little kooky on a bike you commute on (weight wise) but I wanted it to be as close to my mountain bike as possible because I'm riding to be in shape to race on my mtb. So that is why the focus was to keep it similar to the mtb and not make them different. I hope that make sense.