Update! So I went ahead and ordered & received my Strada CM Comp. I ordered kind of early in the pre-pay period, and BikesDirect shipped past the later part of their shipping estimate, so it was quite a painful wait! Thankfully, it did ship at all and I received it in a week by FedEx in Hawaii. Even with the $150 shipping slapped on for living here, I still come out ahead compared to LBSs here, who don't even offer 105 bikes until north of ~$1500.

The bike came well packaged, can't complain about it. Well, except for a lot of the time setting it up being spent on removing the packaging. The other significant time sink was getting the disc brakes to not rub. Oh, before I go off on that, I apparently got a free upgrade to the TRP Hy/Rds (spec on the site says it's supposed to be BB7). So that was a nice surprise. Anyway, I'm probably a below average mechanic, so it took me a couple of hours of reading & adjusting the disc brakes so they don't rub. Even now still, the front occasionally rubs for god knows why but goes away after reseating the wheel. Another issue was the rear hub was way too tight; loosened that up a bit myself and spins decently now, though it still seems to slow down its spin faster than my Spec Roubaix's wheels.

On the maiden voyage today, the characteristic steel springiness came out to dampen the rough roads we have here in Hawaii. The bad side of steel also showed when climbing the many hills we have here too; quite a bear to climb with, even with a 32 largest cog! Might have to downsize my chainrings sometime soon.

Only thing left to do is get the fenders on, which I think is typically the most irritating part of setting up a bike for commuting. Also, anyone know what the smallest chainrings I can fit on there?