The Jake the Snake has Shimano 105 parts while the Jake has Tiagra. In the Portland area- the Snake is being discounted to where it's only $100 more than the Jake, sort of a kick-off to the cyclocross season thing.

I demo-d a Jake the Snake 2 nights ago at a local cyclo-cross clinic. It was a really nice bike for the money. The hubs are mountain bike stuff- which is probably good considering you're planning to ride the bike hard. I didn't use the top in-line brake levers- but it's cool that it comes with them.

The best part is that it has drillings for front and rear fenders. If you're going to use it as an urban assault vehicle- that's a good thing.

Have fun!