Thanks for the reply. This is really the kind of information I am looking for. The most obvious difference to me is the discs, but I honestly don't know enough about the different components to know if it is worth an extra $200. The bike I have been using for the past five years is a 1980s Peugeot mountain bike I got from my dad. That was great (especially with fenders) to use through college and for riding 5 miles roundtrip to work. Now that it's going to be 25-30 miles roundtrip, I'm looking for something much faster.