ya, i'm loving it, too. rode it to work this morning-- i'm still smiling... i took a pannier loaded with afterwork items, and i have to say i understand what people are talking about now regarding the gearing being a little high for a tourer. it was just fine for the commute, but i can see that with extra weight loaded on the bike for a tour, it would be nice to have some lower gear options. i love the component choices and believe, as i keep reading here, the bike will last pretty much forever. my mountain biking friends have been giving me a very hard time about buying a road bike, and are calling it "casey's strange new urge to road ride". well, their loss, i guess. my girlfriend has also given me grief about it; having a fit when i told her i was going to start commuting to work, telling me it's too dangerous too ride on city streets... so i decided to wait a few weeks to let her know i'm planning on selling my car, and using the bike to go EVERYWHERE!!!
i just want to ride---

bottom line, i love the bike.