Thinking of commuting in to work. mix of road and bridleway so it would be on a cx bike.
What chainrings/chainset and cassette options are there? Something that will last but not too heavy? 10spd. Oh and it's about 12miles each way.
How hilly?
Any huge hills?
For my commute which has a big hill early on I opted for a 105 chainset and swapped the 50t for a 46/34 & 12/27 combo, suits me, my legs were never designed for pushing a 50t.
It's nigh on flat. Does 105 wear ok?
A standard road compact (34/50) with an 11-32 mountain bike cassette will get you up pretty much anything off-road. Road gearing with a smaller cassette, even with a compact, is fine on the road, but harsh climbing steep stuff off road ime.
an alfine hub.
commuting kills drive trains ...
just looked at my fixie i used to use - the chainring teeth are so worn and thin the ends have started to bend over :s
Something you can afford to replace every year or so.
105 compact and 12-27 cassette will be fine.