I thought about this more after I posted the initial thread & maybe I'll edit or delete & repost. Nothing I'm looking at has SRAM so its more or less a non issue. Right now, I'm looking at two bikes: '13 Specialized RockHopper & Trek X-Caliber 7. Both spec about about the same but I can get the Specialized about $150 cheaper than the Trek. Plenty of opinions on the Trek but haven't found as much about the Specialized...