Rhino and TandemGeek, thank you both very much. That is very helpful.
Believe me, I did consider just getting a new one. But, honestly the frame on the Giordano is perfect for both of us and is very stiff (and only cost $480 shipped!), and by picking up parts that are used or old model has allowed me to upgrade on the cheap. All in, the final product should cost ~$1,600 and will have SRAM Red components (with mountain derailleur) and be quite light. I don't think I could accomplish anything close to that by buying a complete bike, even used. And, we'd have to worry about the new bike not fitting.
I don't think a triple crankset will work very well for us, considering the ratios you end up with. So, I'm thinking I should use a compact and "triple-ize" it by using an 118mm BB and adding an additional cog on the inside. So, we can get the nice ratios of a compact with a 12-36 cassette. Considering you can pick up a SRAM Red crank for ~$200 on eBay right now, and it compares favorably with Lightning cranks, I think this will be a nice setup.
It helps that I don't need the chainline to be exact, but I suppose I can mess around with some spacers if I need to. I tried eyeballing how it would turn out on the bike, but otherwise there's no good way to find the exact distances (i.e., you can't find out how many MM the third chainring ends up being from the BB). So, it will be an experiment!
Perhaps the biggest upgrade will be the wheels -- going from hybrid tires to true road wheels (which I'm used to) will be a game changer.
Will