FWIW, in Atlanta the price differential is $100 between the two models.


With the 8.6 you effectively get an extra, lower gear. I'm not sure how steep the hills you might tackle are but I've been glad to have the extra granny gear a number of times.

Also my 8.6 came with M445 levers and M447 calipers. I'm not clear on the differences vs the M355. The M447 has a slightly different (nicer) bleeding setup than the M446 but that's really just a point of information and not a concern.