Originally Posted by irclean

I have also been considering the MEC Desire; it has the same frame as the Hold Steady, but with an aluminum fork. It has a Nexus hub instead of the Alfine (but it is the premium "red band" hub) and it has rim brakes, but the tabs are there for discs so a quick hub swap on the front and some Avid BB5s would be an easy upgrade. It retails for $750 CAD so I am planning to test ride that one, too. My fear is that its all-aluminum frameset will translate into a jarring ride - I rode a similar bike last year in the 2009 Giant Seek 1 (precursor to 2010's Seek 0) and I felt like it was going to shake my fillings loose!