Originally Posted by acidfast7

Ride the TREK 7000 more before dropping the cash.

It's important to know what you want in a bike as they do many different things.

Personally, given my location, if I wanted a road-ready bike in that price range I'd def go with a randonneuring/audax bike like this because it represents excellent out-of-the-box value with quality aftermarket components

http://www.fahrradmanufaktur.de/bike...o-105-20-gang/

for a few reasons:

fenders
racks (front/back)
2x10 config (105 components)
nice dynamo
lights in front/rear
pump


however, they're not sold in the US, as far as I know