I didn't want the bar-end shifters that a built-up Surly comes with, so I purchased a frame for around $400 from Jenson USA and built it up myself. It currently has downtube shifters, but I'll probably switch to brifters in the near future.

I love the Surly - it gets used nearly every day as my commuting and errand bike. I also have a Trek Madone (for racing and recreation), and a Cervelo TT bike (for going flat out fast!).

One thing - be careful with sizing. Surly spec's their frame sizes a little weird - they tend to "run big", and you might end up with a frame that's too big if you're not careful. Go to their website and download their spec sheets, and carefully compare the sizing to your current bikes - it's likely you'll need to downsize the Surly frame by 2 cm from what you're currently riding.