I scored a new Cannondale 09 X7 for under a grand and it's been an awesome bike, got SKS 45's on it, in the winter it's got Hakka W106, summer Gatorskin 28's. I still defer to a fast road bike for nice days but on the wet and winter days it's just slightly slower than my R1000 C'dale. Wheels are a little weak but eventually will get swapped out for something much better. The Sora brifters aren't actually that bad, they're good with long finger gloves in the winter, eventually a nice SRAM setup will go in but for now, bang for the buck complete bike, this was impossible to beat IMO. Made in the USA too... Took me several months of stalking Craigslist and ebay before I found what I wanted though...