decided to get a jamis dakar instead. it seems like a decent bike, especially because i want to upgrade as i go. unfortunately, i broke the manitou splice comp after only 2 days. the lbs and i both think it was defective from the start, and the loaner fork they're letting me use is a rock shox judy tt. seems like a little bit of a downgrade, but its better than going back to using the 4500 for a few weeks.