I visited another bike shop, entering with my heart set on a Bad Boy Ultra, even though it was out of my desired range. I'm not sold on it any more after looking at a Specialized Crosstrail Expert that is ~$500 less @ $769.99--and it has 29ers, for what it's worth. This is now my "top bike" until I visit a few more shops. Today an '06 Trek 6700 Disc on sale for $879.99 (org. $1,099.99) caught my eye. I'm not sure how to compare these two...

Thanks again all.