I'm going to be moving to the Santa Cruz mountains soon - I'll be doing some highway shoulder riding, light trails, through fields, around town, etc. I want something that won't be really sloggy on the road but will still be safe/comfortable on light/moderate offroad (nothing crazy).
The
http://www.specialized.com/us/en/bc/...d=11CrossTrail has slightly better brakes, cassette, and crank (and is ~1.5 pounds lighter?) for $999. Tires are wider (700x45 vs 700x38) than the DS, but have a nice bald spot in the middle so they handle really well on road.
http://www.trekbikes.com/us/en/bikes..._series/8_5_ds is $50 cheaper (and the shop has 1 year free service instead of 90 days, plus I'd get a discount on accessories so I guess 20% off a ~$60 bike lock, I have the rest), has a remote lockout for suspension (though the speedlock is easy enough to reach down to), and IMO looks a lot cooler. Most of the other components are the same.
The crosstrail is better bike for the price... but the 8.5 feels "cooler" and the remote lockout would be nice if it would feel unsafe to reach down and toggle the suspension lockout (though that's a pretty fast maneuver). Haven't really found any acceptable similar models in person, though I know there are some out there. Thoughts?