multi-bicycle strategy for large urban area

[learning]

Hey everybody,

I'm living in a very large urban area and am trying to get a good set of bikes to meet all of my needs. I live in a small apartment, so I can't have many bikes, like 1-2 plus a folder, maybe. My general criteria are steel frame for durability, eyelets for fenders and racks, as cheap as possible.

Nearby shopping and errands - good cheap strong utility bike
I want to do all my nearby (1-3 miles) shopping and errands by bicycle so I need a strong utility bike, with racks and mudguards for carrying a lot. Forrester in Effective Cycling recommends building up your own good utility bicycle. I'm considering doing this using a prior-year Fuji steel touring frame. Does anybody have any suggestions to improve on this idea? I've also considered getting a used MTB and putting on racks and mudguards, but I like the frame to have eyelets to attach the racks and mudguards to, so I have less worry about breakdowns with all my groceries.

For going farther around the city - speed, distance, occasional hauling
I would also like to be able to go just about anywhere in the urban area on occasion. The idea here would be to be able to go, say, up to 60 miles round-trip, usually quite quickly for time efficiency but not concerned with optimizing the bike for speed at the expense of being able to carry something. My thinking for this bike is to have a steel-framed road/touring bike with eyelets for at least a rear rack and fenders. Something like one of the Surly pavement versatile bikes. Is the additional speed possible with a lighter bike such as an aluminum-framed one, worth sacrificing the durability?

for taking on public transportation and traveling - a folder
This is the lowest priority since I don't travel that much and I plan to use the other bikes for my main transportation with the goal of using other transportation as little as possible. I saw the other thread on folders, so no specific questions here. Just want to say that my use would be primarily utility, so rack and fenders.

One thought would be just to get a good utility bike and use that for the longer distance stuff and not worry about whether it takes me a few more minutes, since those trips will be less common, anyway. However, I'm very time conscious and would like to be able to move around the city quickly. Is the difference in speed/time worth buying a second bike, such as one that is more "road bike-ish" instead of more "touring bike-ish"?

Does anybody have suggestions either to change the way I'm thinking about the use of the different bikes, or about specific models for each of the different uses? What do you guys do?

Thanks,
Learning

[jacob]

Trek520 (combining utility hauling, distance, and some speed into one) and a Dahon Boardwalk or similar combo.

[champ0608]

When I first moved to Tucson in college, I found a great 1970s steel framed ten-speed at a garage sale. It needed a lot of work of get it up and running, but it quickly became my road warrior. Now, I do all of my city commuting on it. Who knows how many miles I've racked up on it by now...

A good vintage steel framed bike can be found cheap, maintained to be on the road virtually forever, and customized easily to fit your needs (this can be a very fun hobby, though its easy to go overboard on.) Those old school ten-speeds are as classic as it gets. Mine is one of my most prized possessions.

To the point...in my opinion, there's really no need for two bikes in terms of city commuting.

As for a folder, I have no experience with them, so I can't make any suggestions. Tucson is a small enough place that I've never had to think of carrying a bike on public transit.