Originally Posted by velonomad
While the frame is important much of the difference is on the head badge, Rivendell makes a very good bike but they are "Bling" so the price is higher.
That's what I was worried about. If I was getting $1400 of bike, I'd bite the bullet and buy one. If I'm only getting $700 of bike and $700 of name badge, there's no way. I'm selling one of my favorite cameras to pay for this, so I want to make the most of my buck. Especially if the savings can help pay for a set of rock-solid rims like you suggested.
Oh, and I'm sorry, I didn't mean to diss the Trek 520 (I rode a 7200 for years and loved it), but I've done some forum bouncing and saw folks complaining about it. Or maybe they were just complaining about the parts? Can't remember, it was 2 AM and I was exhausted...
I'm leaning more and more towards the Long Haul Trucker now. If the frame is that solid and only costs $450-ish, that leaves me room for some killer components.
Thanks again for all your suggestions! This has been amazingly helpful!