Since you mention liking the carbon fiber fork for smoothing out the ride, I think you should go with the Jamis...cause just the steel frame alone will make for a more comfortable ride. My Nova is a steel frame bike, and I carry it up a flight of stairs every day...it's not that bad. ;-) As far as stuffing a 700x32 tire on it under fenders...I don't know how close the frame geometry is to a Jamis Nova, but I have fenders on that, and 700x32 tires, and no problems with the fit.