Rather than start another "What bike to buy" thread I'd thought I'd poke in here for a sec.. have been eyeballing a new Trek 820 at the LBS- steel framed- which seems like a really nice bike. It's really good looking!
Dig the idea of a steel frame, and it will be used for trail riding, light offroading, and was thinking it would make a nice winter commuter.
At any rate reading here there are a lot of good opinions on older Treks, any thoughts on new (er) models? I'd love to find a good deal like the OP- but so far used name brand bikes I have seen are pretty trashed.