I love my Sirrus...It is a fun great handling bike. I think the newer ones come with 32c tires so that should help with bad roads. I have 28c on mine and they do pretty well on the chip and stone back roads. $50 bucks for people that are more likable might be worth it. I am lucky, both bike shops closest to me are real nice people. I buy bikes and accessories from one, and components and parts from the other. I would have no worries buying a Specialized, they are at the same level as Trek: Good mass produced bikes.

Edit: I just looked up current models. You would have to buy a Sirrus Sport to match the FX7.2. Apparently Specialized cheapened the base model Sirrus to 7spd, but they also lowered the price. My sirrus was, I believe, MSRP $519.99 for 2009. I guess mine would be closer to the Current Sport model than the base model. Why do they have to change models around all the time?

If you can get the FX7.2 for your husband for $400 it sounds like the better deal, IMO.