Looks like I came late to the party, but I think you made the right choice.

I mostly wanted to comment on the misinformation being put out here; first of all, GT MIGHT be in a few big-box stores, but any GT bike that runs 6" of travel, X.7/X.9/XT-level components, Fox suspension, and costs $2K isn't a big-box bike. "Dual-channel marketing" seems to be working for GT and Mongoose.

700c tubes, presta-valved, are available at Wally.