Cyclocross - New Bike...Trek XO 1 or Kona Jake the Snake

I'm getting ready to pick up my first cross bike. I've been starting to race a little bit, and have been doing it on my mountain bike. I'm getting ready to get my first cross bike and I've narrowed it down to these two bikes. I can get the 2008 model of each one for 1300 bucks. I'm looking for the pros and cons of each bike. They are spec'ed very similar, and I really don't have an attachment to either bike.

Someone said that the Trek doesn't have replaceable derailleur hanger, but I haven't been able to confirm that. Additionally, even if that is true I'm not sure how big of a deal it is. Anyways, I would appreciate any opinions or comments from people with either bike.

The alternative is I may wait, and eventually get a Redline Conquest Pro, but it is a little more money.

I just went and looked at my xo1 and it has a replaceable derailleur hanger. I cant think of a cross bike that dosent have one.

if the xo1 pictured on trek's website is the one you'd be getting, it does indeed have a removable derailleur hanger. it's not shiny, but you can see the bolt in the blown up view.

i've ridden both, owned neither. they both have noncrap components, i really doubt you can go wrong.

the trek has bontrager race wheels which are paired/low spoke/radial. they may be a bit faster but i bet the kona's stock wheels will stand up to a little more abuse, with deore/105 hubs, open sport rims and two or three cross patterns.

i know several guys who speak really highly of their konas. don't see a lot of treks at the races but i've not had an eye out for them either. to me it'd come down to the little stuff like if i like the shop or if i like the stock gearing/saddle/tires/whatever. the less you replace, the better deal you got.

The shape of the Trek top tube is not ideal for portaging.

I'd definately ck out alot of other frames before I'd go to the redline. Felt, Kona, Empella... The Kona for sure would be the way to go I think..

just letting you know that my ALAN unicross doesn't have a replaceable dropout...hope that doesn't come back to bite me in the ass.

I'd get the Kona. I've never been a fan of Trek cx bikes. I don't think they're bad, but for 1,300 you could do a lot better.

I have been told that Trek changed the geometry on their cross bikes this year. Getting away from the road bikeish feel that the older ones had. That said I have a 2005 and it seved as a good race bike for the first couple of years. this year I switched to a Bianchi axis, but kept my trek as a backup.

I didn't see many treks at the race I raced in on Saturday. I saw a few Kona's and a ton of redlines and ton of other bikes, but not many Treks. I really like the spec of the Trek as it very comparable to the Kona. Additionally, Trek has great warranty and customer service. I like the look of the Kona better but I need to test them out and see which geometry I like better. The 56 Kona is bigger than the 56 Trek that I'm looking at.