Looked at a Salsa Vaya today and have to say it's a pretty sweet ride. It's more than I like to pay but really seems to have all the required features for the commuter and casual touring. Not an LHT but then that's not really what I need. The Vaya is pretty sweet. I can take or leave the disc brakes but I guess it's nice to have. Plenty of rack options, takes skinny or wide tires, like the 48/34 crank and the mountain cassette, has road brifters which I like, and the shallow drop bar is pretty nice too. I can't really see anything "wrong" with the bike other than maybe the price.

Can anyone rate this bike agains the Jamis Aurora or Aurora Elite? I initially liked the Elite but in retrospect it comes with too much crap (great if it's the right crap) which I guess saves money but not sure it's set up the way I'd want. Aside from that, how does the Jamis stack up against the Salsa? Should I be concerned by the chromoly vs reynolds steel or is that mostly marketing? Thanks again.