Wow, thanks for all your input everyone! So far it sounds like the wheel and tires are at the top of the list as lightening my load in my pack isn't possible as I ride to work with breakfast and lunch and "in-betweeners". Yeah, I have a healthy appetite. I do a lot of cross fit training and I need to eat! lol
As for the gears, I need to look into that. I'm new to the bike world so I'm kind of lost with all the lingo. STAPFAM is right about the crank being 52/42/30 but I think my cassette is 11/28 and I don't know what that means. Is that the number of teeth?