AlmostTrick, I'm OK with tools. Would need to buy a full toolkit, which I should probably own anyways. Probably not going to buy the tools necessary to learn to true my wheels, though.

bikemig, I've considered, but feel like if I'm going to spend $500, I might as well bite the bullet and purchase through the LBS. As someone who has commuted on a heavy 3-speed bikeshare bike for the past year, though, I do agree that I would be a happy camper with far fewer than 21+ gears.