Hey, I test rode a Giant Seek 1 last week. A sales guy at "The Hub Bike Coop" in Minneapolis, MN was able to borrow one from a Giant rep. It seemed like a solid bike. The bike shop threw on some 40c studded tires and they fit with some additional clearance. I rode it for about 20 minutes, including over quite a bit of snow, ice and all that stuff you find on trails and sidewalks.

Things I liked:
1. Handling seemed very solid and predictable.
2. Loved the bare bones look - almost no decals, doesn't look "flashy".
3. Liked that it was NOT black. So many commuter bikes are clothes are black or grey - it's a little easier for a car to see a white bike at night. (Yes, I have lights, to, just seem rediculous)
4. Liked that, other than the disc brakes, it didn't "look expensive".
5. I didn't even notice the brakes - they just worked, a huge plus.
6. 700c tires, and since it comes with 32c tires I figured it could handle somewhat skinny tires for summer riding.
7. Clearance for 40c tires.
8. Internal Hub, Disc Brakes, fully enclosed cable housing, rust proof chain - all great for winter riding.
9. No chain tensioner.

$1,000 seems to be the average price for a decent bike with full alfine + disc brakes without carbon fiber or a super slim frame and stuff like that - all the other bikes I've read about are priced like that.

Things I didn't like:
1. I was never 100% comfortable riding it. I suspect it's the stupid handlebars - they're wide like a cruiser, but they're almost completely straight like a mountain bike. The bars should really be one or the other - personally, I like swept back bars a lot more. If you like the short moutain bike style bars, you might check out a Specialized Globe Centrum (I think it's called the Globe San Fransisco or something this year). But I wanted swept back handlebars and 700c tires.
2. The rear stay fit 40c tires, and it *might* have fit a fender on there to. But it would be pretty tight with that setup. It has this bizzare piece of metal that sticks out at the top of the rear stay that cuts a few cm off the clearance, for absolutely no apparent reason (though like I said, I actually had 40c tires on there and and they fit fine). The frame is clearly a bigger, bulkier frame, and it's clearly not a road bike with straight bars, so why on earth would you not just give it huge clearance that could accomodate anything?
3. This is really subjective - I was working really hard riding it, but I wasn't going very fast. BUT it was also my first ride on studded tires. I hear they're way, way slower than summer tires.

In the end, it was a real debate between the Giant and the Hyland Civia they had on clearance for $1700 (sorry, that was the last one they had other than the way more expensive rohloff version). I was right on the fence - if the civia had been at it's normal 2008 price of $1980, I would have bought the Giant and switched handlebars. It's just that the Civia came with a certain number of things that I would have had to pay for seperately on the Giant, narrowing the price gap - 28c panaracer tserv messenger tires ($80 for 2, for summer), swept back handlebars (probably $80 installed), fenders and a decent looking rack already installed, dynamo hub and light ($40 for a "see me" light + batteries). And I had ridden the Civia in the summer before, so I knew I would like the ride, and would be really unlikely to find any bike that was faster with upright handlebars.

It was close, though. The Civia was lime green (probably part of why it was the last one to be sold). I convinced myself that it made it less flashy so it would be better for locking up somewhere, but with disc brakes I'm probably just fooling myself about that. If someone stole my Civia, I'd probably go down and buy the Giant Seek 1 to replace it.