Condescending Flip Flopping

So after all the talk about getting a Surly Long Haul Trucker, I've changed my mind. I realized that the last time I bought a bike based on color, I ended up not liking the fit of the bike and lost my a lot of money when I sold it for half it's original purchase price. Lesson learned I thought, until today.

I met my dad today to help him buy his first "real" bike. He picked out a Jamis Coda Elite. Steele frame, carbon fork, XT components, and disc breaks. It's a nice bike, one he'll get years of use out of. While I was there I checked out the Jamis Aurora Elite, a bike I had considered second best to the LHT. The 2010 model has disc breaks as an upgrade from last years model. That is one huge drawback the LHT had, I really wanted disc breaks. I came back to work and got on the Jamis website and looked at Aurora Elite. I compared it to the LHT and made a ranking, component vs component. The Jamis came out on top by several points. In my mind this is where is beats the LHT: better breaks, steel, shifters, derailers, tires, rims, & cassette. Had I gone forward with the LHT I would have replaced the bar end shifters for STI's, swapped out the wheelset, and probably upgraded the derailers. Instead the Jamis will just need my laundry list of xmas items added to it. I'll replace the stock seat with my Brooks and re-wrap the bars with black tape to match the seat. Above all else I won't have to wait until July to get it like I would the Black LHT. I may have to order one in my size, but to wait a few weeks is better than a few months. I'm going to talk to the LBS on Saturday to get it ordered.