After a lot of consideration I think I am going to go with Trek. The decision essentially came down to the reputation of one of my local bike shops and a little less to do with Trek themselves.

I am now finding myself torn between the FX and the Marlin. I'm entertaining the Marlin because it provides some offroad capabilities without needing to have two different bikes. I am going to lose some efficiency on hard surfaces. My question for the group here is whether or not that difference is really noticeable. Thoughts?