Originally Posted by noisebeam
The question remains how do I want to configure it? This is a bike I plan to use forever, both for commuting, but also lots of 4WD trail riding (rougher than dirt roads, but not technical like rocky single tracks) on weekends. I am willing to pay for the upgraded groups, but need to put thought into where to put the money (i.e. not neccessarily the exact 105 'virtual' configuration) but also what other cross bikes compare at $1350 (at $950 none really did)
(I do wonder why the other LBS did not know about the standard stock build and were so vague about the '105 STI' build - expecially why they priced it at $1800 before I questioned that. The annoying part is this was the LBS I have done all my accessory shopping at and this other nice new LBS is 10mi away.)
Al
Sounds like you found an honest, competent LBS. You might want to invest in two sets of wheels--one with slick 25's or 28's for commuting, one with knobby 32's or 35's for off road. (Personally, I prefer slick 28's for fair-weather commuting.) Yeah, it's expensive, but it beats riding down the road on knobbies or taking a curvy, hilly dirt path with "narrow" slicks. It also beats switching off tires twice a week.
I can't compare the value to the 105 upgrade because I know squat about the 105 upgrade, but it's a thought.