There's nothing wrong with the CrossRip Elite. The new Sora components are pretty decent, and I've heard good things about the Hayes CX5 brakes. The nice thing about the Sora groupset is that 9-speed components are cheaper to replace.

That said, I am a very happy owner of a 2013 Kona Jake, which is cheaper and has better componets with the exception of the brakes and (arguably) the fork. The fork, I would argue, really doesn't matter because the tires are wide enough to make any buzz absorption from a carbon fork negligible. For less than the difference in price between the Jake and the CrossRip you could upgrade the Jake brakes to Avid BB7 (or Hayes CX5). I also happen to like the Jake geometry better.

Really though, if you have a Trek dealer that you like and there isn't a Kona dealer that you like in the area, that might be enough to tip the scales to the CrossRip. Don't underestimate the value of service.