Lisa, I also thought one needed to go 9spd to use a rear mountain cluster (what I have on my bikes) but if you look at the gearing offered on the new terry isis bikes, the isis sport boasts a 10 spd ultegra group up front, with mountain gearing in back, so check it out. Maybe you want to do something like that on your new bike.

I like the idea of a dark color. My titanium isis is white with light blue, and while looks pretty she is so hard to keep clean. My steel isis is darker blue fading to silver and much easier to keep clean.