Thanks everybody for reinforcing me on this one. I decided against buying from this LBS regardless of the bike or the deal. The dealer informed me that if I purchased the bike and payed with my credit card he was going to charge me an additional 4%!!! He whined and carried on about how the credit card companies charged him so he was going to pass the charge on to all of his customers. The thing is that I know for a fact that they don't charge him 4%. The credit card companies usually charge 1.9%. So I think he was even trying to make additional money off the transaction. He is also the only LBS in town that does this. I asked him if it was because he was discounting the bike and he said no that is what he charges all of his customers! After adding tax to the price of the bike 4% would be an additional $67.20!!! Forget it!!! I could have easily have written him a check but decided to just pass on the whole deal. His overall attitude just gave me a bad feeling.

Now to the good news. This morning I started calling bike shops in other towns to see what was available. I found a shop 125 miles away that sells Santa Cruz bikes and frames. (Previously I didn't know there was one in our state.) I drove there this afternoon and test rode a bike he had already built up and was really impressed. He made me a really good deal on the frame and sold me some other components for half price! I was also a lot more impressed with the overall attitude of the LBS there. They were really great to deal with. They answered all of my questions and acted like they appreciated my business. While I was there I also observed how they treated their other customers. The difference was like night and day from the previous dealer.

Now I have to take my wife out to dinner before I can start building up my bike. I guess I'll be up late!!!

Thanks again!