I do, I do!

My first road bike was a Trek 1000. My second road bike, and my primary four-seasons, all-conditions commuter, is a 2006 Trek Portland.

The Tricross is a good bike. If you're limited in the number of bikes you can have in your apartment (Get a bigger apartment! My apartment fits four bikes comfortably.) then the Portland may be the better choice.

If I could have only one road bike, my other three would go and the Portland would stay. Put another way, last year, and so far again this year, my Portland has more miles than my other three road bikes combined.

After a few years off my recommended list, the 2011 Portland returns to my recommended list due to two major changes:

1. They finally got rid of the paired-spoke wheels.
2. They restored Avid BB-7 brakes to the parts spec.

Detractors say it's an expensive bike for a 9-speed, and that the stock "fenderettes" aren't very effective.

First, they haven't ridden one. The frame is what makes this bike. I also have a steel road bike and a titanium road bike. My Portland rides better than either one. There is magic in the frame.

Second, my older 10-speed Portland goes through chains every 1500 to 2000 miles, and 10-speed chains are twice the price and more. Nine-speed chains tend to last longer (or at least they do for me) and are considerably cheaper. Cassettes too are half the price. If you're going to wear out parts anyway--and on a commuter you're certainly going to wear out parts--it's far cheaper to wear out 9-speed parts than 10-speed.

Third, it's true, the stock fenderettes aren't the best, but they're better than nothing. I put mine on my Litespeed, and put full fenders on the Portland--two different sets, actually. I have a set of SKS P-35s for the three-seasons, and a set of SKS P-45s to go over the studded snow tires for winter.

Anyway, the Portland is an excellent choice for a do-it-all road bike.

While designed to fill the commuting role, it's just as happy hauling home insane amounts of groceries as it is on fast group rides through the twisties. It's just as fast as my other bikes, but not quite as quick. It corners like no other bike I've ridden, and is the best descender in my fleet.

I throw my cross tires on and it's happy to go play on single-track and get all muddy. Even with its road tires on, it ignores things like gravel and potholes, and makes no protest over taking a dirt road instead of pavement.

The only thing it's not stellar at is climbing. It's only an adequate climber. Even so, I got mine to the top of Mt. Evans (14,130 feet) but one of my other bikes would have been easier. The reason is that the disc brakes and disc brake wheelset add some extra rotational weight. This is also why it's not quite as quick as my other bikes.

I could go on and on, but I think you get the picture. I love my Portland, and think it's an excellent all-rounder. Its worth looking at and test riding, even if you end up buying something else.