Thanks for all the smart advice. I've checked out the bikes all of you have mentioned. Beautiful machines but way out of my price range I'm leaning toward the Specialized for a few reasons. The shop is about 1.5 miles from my house. It's in the small college town where I live and I like to support the locals. They are willing to switch the saddle if I hate the one that comes on it. They'll give me a private bike repair class and free basic maintenance for life. They've done work on my old bike and they're fast and cheap! Every time I go in there are at least one or two serious bikers (or at least they look the part) in the shop and all the employees know them by name. I've tried to test them by asking different employees the same question (does a suspension seat post really make a difference and should I pay extra for it?) and they have across the board given me the same answer and it doesn't benefit the shop's sales. True they don't have the fancy laser bike sizer machine and the uber-cool looking shop but they've been around for awhile and I think that counts for more than being trendy. The really crummy thing is now that I've made my decision I CAN'T GO GET ME BIKE! I've gotta leave to go to class tonight and I'm flying all day tomorrow out of Cleveland (2 hours away)! Gaaaah!