Originally Posted by CraigB

A quick update:

After a weekend of test rides that included the Trek, Raleigh, Bianchi, Felt ('10 and '11 versions of the Z85) and Cannondale, the decision has been made. It's going to be the C'dale Synapse Alloy 5. The others were all nice and fun, though the Bianchi had a little too aggressive frame geometry for me, but the Cannondale felt like I was riding on a newly paved asphalt road. Smoothest thing I've ever felt on two wheels, but still plenty responsive. Plus the shop is super customer-service oriented, to the point of having "unlimited" test rides - they say if you want to take it out for a metric to see how you like it over distances greater than a spin around the parking lot, they're happy to let you do it. And their bike prices include an extremely thorough lifetime fitting service. It's a cool little shop. I'm going to take the bike out this evening for their Thursday night shop ride to see how it feels on a ride of an hour or two.