I don't understand how you went through pads that quick on the street.
It is unfortunate that Avid still makes those roundagon rotors. The clean sweep rotors are infinitely better. They stop better and they don't make that warbling sound that the roundagons are famous for. If they offered an upgraded BB7 kit many would buy it. I guess now they get you to buy the kit, then buy an overpriced set of rotors on top.
It bugs me to see manufacturers continue to spec the BB5 as well. The BB7 is such a worthwhile upgrade that they're really doing the consumer a disservice by cutting corners.
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That said, my Sojourn with stock brakes (bb5) stops great. The difference between that and my BB7 bike, is the BB7 is always in adjustment. When the lever throw gets a little long I reach down at a stop light and tweak it. With the 5's you can't, so for me things tend to get a little further out of adjustment before I fix them.
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The dew drop does nothing for me. I think because it doesn't strike me as a road bike.
The Sojourn is nice, but on the heavy side. Would be a good tourer. It's the bike I use to carry my daughter, and to do a decent amount of gravel riding with my wife. Trying to keep it over 20mph is a workout, but drop to 17 or under and the whole personality of the bike changes. It really is very enjoyable in its element. It didn't work for me as a commuter though. Not sure exactly - some combination of the hills, speed I like to maintain, riding style, triple crankset, barcons... whatever.
As far as price, if you really wanted a Sojourn, watch ebay. They often sell for cheap. Unfortunately, this guy is in Canada
http://cgi.ebay.com/RALEIGH-SOJOURN-...item414bbe923d - But even then, you could wait for the Microsoft cashback to go up (it's only 8% now -
http://www.cashbackr.com/cashback ), use the buy it now and probably get it to your door for $800ish.