Got a 2005 Jake the Snake last year and love it. I use it primarilly as a road bike (plan to commute total of 60k a day on it) and will rarely take it off road - but might do local gravel or something. I come from a traditional road riding background, but recently have spent a number of years riding in the dirt.

It is a bit twitchy in cross winds I find (spring winds can knock it around over 50kmph more than my old road bike was...) and the gearing limits top speed on hills (not an issue usually though).

Thus far, I have had no issue with the bottom bracket, but if it craps out, I will hunt up some sort of sealed cartridge bearing unit. Planned upgrades for the future include a Chris King headset, and some sort of Mavic cross wheel set and a much lighter saddle. Since I intend to commute on it, I want it as weather proof as I can make it so sealed cartridge bearings work the best for me.

Only issue was a crappy back wheel. It started blowing spokes - someone at the factory must have over tightened the thing I suspect - but my local bike store rebuilt it with new spokes for free and it has given me no grief since.

If you want a tough bike that works well as a road bike but will handle a bit of tossing around, this bike is a great bargan for the cash.

Hope that helps