I was also checking out the bikes at MEC Vancouver recently, and they look good.

MEC doesn't have to blow the competition away; as long as its bikes are comparable, not total crud, then plenty of people (especially new cyclists, who are clearly the target) are going to buy them because they're MEC - perhaps rightly so. I think they'll do extremely well.

OP, I'd go with the Hold Steady over the Soho. The Cote and Jake are a toss-up.