As the OP on this thread, I'm thrilled to see so may responses. Some of y'all had the same question that looks to boil down to the same thing...how fast do I want to go?

The answer is that I want to go as fast as I can for the amount of strength and endurance I have at a comfortable riding angle. Why go 15mph when I could go 17mph?

The SUB40 is a great bike and pretty darn fast for the money. In fact, it's probably perfect for what I'm doing with it (a 10-mi commute and kid-trailer-pullin' duty). However, I have the opportunity to dream because "stock sucks" and somebody else is always faster

Thank all for your recommendations. I will look at every suggested bike.