FWIW, my SO has an Aurora Elite - bought it in September of last year - and he loves it. It's a good mix of components at the price he paid, and it looks sleek and rides well. (Although not as well as my Sherpa 30 with 853 tubing). We did look at Surlys, but they are expensive here in Canuckistan. He gets lots of double-takes as people try to figure out what bike it is. Surlys are good, solid bikes, but a bit over-hyped IMO.