Whoa! Hey guys, these are all great suggestions. The field has evidently come a long ways in the last little bit.

Owning a 2016 Ascent Breakaway for what I call "fast gravel" I hadn't realized the new one is so much more capable. At $1300 it is a pretty compelling suggestion.

The Towmak: As wicked as that thing looks, I have a feeling I'd like to ride one first. I've been on the look out for a MukLuk ever since a customer brought one in to the shop. So, yeah. They're cool but, they seem like a bridge too far for me for anything but snow. For that I have Zwift. The Beaux Jaxon however seems like the backside of the new Ritchey Ascent coin.

The Cutthroat: TBH the Cutty had crossed my mind after I hit "Post" on post number one. I like the idea it is suspension corrected but isn't appreciably different than what I have now.

Lael is just awesome. For reasons not germane to the discussion, I'd rather not discuss Specialized though. They are out of contention.

The Surly Ghost Grappler is another one I'll need to consider. I had never heard of it until just now.

Thanks guys! I'm off to a good start with 4 solid suggestions & it looks like I have some homework to do. ​​​​​​​