Thank you for all of the feedback. Just an update, I still have not purchased my new bike yet, but will be buying in 2-3 weeks hopefully (got a few items on craigslist for my bike fund). I'm still pretty much sold on the Trek 4300 (with V-brakes) for $449.00 at my LBS, but they also sell Gary Fisher there too. I will ride both, and get whichever one feels better to me. I stopped by a different bike shop in town that is a Jamis distributor though, and they are trying to sell me a Jamis Cross Country 3.0. I guess it is last years model because I cannot find it on the Jamis website. The store wants $489.00 for the Jamis, and of course the sales guy tells me that it is way better than the Trek for the money. Anyone out there know the real difference between these two?