Its absurd to insist that one has to own a bike to have an informed opinion about it. In fact, owners can sometimes be a poor source...often rationalizing their own purchases gets in the way of making an unbiased judgement . At any rate, after viewing this forum for nearly five years, there is more than enough evidence available to back up my statements and recommendations. The WT and Steamroller are more or less equivalent bikes. The fact that the WT is hundreds less makes it a better buy, unless you really depend on your LBS for sizing and mechanics. In that case, you may be better off with the Surly. Thats really all there is to it.