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As a long time cyclist, most of this thread makes my head hurt. I know you all mean well but there is actually a cycling industry out there that has spent years, a lot of money and effort trying to tackle these issues.
Fairings are all good for the track or closed course but IRL (in real life), with hills, cross winds, storing the bike both at home and work, they are a heck of a lot of work with few benefits. A lot of the fairings and super-aero designs pictured here are useless on public roads with motor vehicle traffic.
The diamond frame bike has been around for 120 yrs. It has been studied, dissected, etc for a long time by people who spend their lives on bikes. I'm not saying that new things can't happen but a lot of what's been discussed in this thread has been tried. Many times. For years and years. There's a reason bikes still look like they do.
Yes, I'm aware of how the UCI limits technological improvement but even in ultramarathon cycling where participants are free to use conventional bikes or recumbents, very often, the conventional bike (think more like time trial/triathlon) bike is chosen because not only of aerodynamics but ergonomics.
At commuting speeds, rolling resistance can be as big a factor - skinny tires at high pressures isn't where it's at anymore. Check out Jan Heine's research on his website janheine.wordpress.com/
Most pros are moving to at least 25mm tires and wider rims. Enthusiasts are using from 25mm to as wide as 42mm fast rolling tires.True aero wheels cost upwards of $2000 so trying to plink some improvements off of wheels on a $300 bike seem unlikely. Aero wheels have their drawbacks in windy conditions, not to mention most are made of carbon fiber so require either special brake pads or disc brakes for proper braking (and typically very expensive tubular tires) which again bumps up the price tag.
Trying to fair tubing is also pretty meaningless at commuter speeds since most of the aero drag is from the rider and wheels. Also, what seems intuitive often isn't. Many bikes are actually more aero with a water bottle on the downtube since it pushes air around the legs and back wheel.
The most meaningful gains (within a reasonable budget) are going to be by
a) aero rider position - tri/tt bars in proper position so your back is flat as practical. Mounting aero bars way high on the flat bars of a commuter hybrid is not what I'm talking about.
b) low rolling resistance tires - fatter tires are also less prone to flatting. Spending time and money on making a fairing and then using heavy, stiff "commuting" tires is like taking one step forward and two back
c) more aero front wheel. Low spoke 50mm plus depth. But this alone is probably double the budget of the bike a lot of people in this thread are talking about.
d)f you want a fairing on the cheap, get a good proper handlebar bag to carry your work clothes in. Not that expensive, a heck of a lot more functional than sheets of chloroplast.
e) consider a better used bike.
Lastly, a 20km commute can be done by a fit cyclist in 35-50 min. A high level competitive cyclist, in as little as half hour. It may be that your best gains in time would be tuning the "motor" rather than the bike.
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