I did buy a new bike. It offered most of what I was looking for and was cheaper than the ones I had been looking at. It felt right when I test rode it. I preferred it to a similar Santa Cruz that I tried.
Now, it's at my house and I am waiting to take it up some mountains, soon.
29" tires will take some getting used to, as will losing 17 of the gears that my Marin has, though the differences in upper and lower ratio are similar if not the same, and will likely turn into an advantage once I've adjusted to using the fewer gear options, which may require more strength when moving up.
The disc brakes are huge and a vast improvement over everything I've owned before. I'll stop before I turn this into a bike review of a bike that I have not rode yet.
I'm happy.
I wish that I could spend this much money every Saturday.
.
