Well, last night my 2.3 Stagger arrived. I tried it out at the store and was not very happy with it. Rode very rough, and felt just generally creaky and shaky and bad... I got the idea that it had been assembled hastily and the staff people were quick to busy themselves with other customers throughout my time there, so I wasn't able to get much attention. I left fairly disgruntled, and I didn't take the bike home. I'm going in a couple hours to give it another go after insisting the mechanic look it over again. If I don't like it, I'm not sure what I'll do.

I've been debating the Diamondback Insight and the Clarity a bit more. I really like the Insight, as you guys know, and I was keen on trying the Clarity, but there's a problem. The Insight fits me pretty snugly in that I don't have much clearance standing over -- less than .25". The Clarity's standover height is even greater than the Insight's despite being a women's bike, so I feel like I have to rule out the Clarity.

Looking at bikes on Performance that have a lower standover height but are also good commuters, the GT ZUM came up. One of my local shops has a small in stock I could try, the standover height being 24.85". Would you guys recommend this bike for me? The Performance guy on the phone said that the GT bike is more rugged... I don't want another mountain bike, but I wouldn't mind something durable if it didn't mean sacrificing performance.

Thoughts?