"PERFORMANCE BIKES" ARE A GREAT CHOICE. FOR EXAMPLE, I BOUGHT A ROAD & GRAVEL 18 SPEED WITH A STURDY STEEL FRAME AND DISK BRAKES FROM THEM WHICH WAS $100 LESS (INCLUDING SHIPPING) THAN "BIKES DIRECT'S" ALUMINUM TUBING BIKES THAT WEIGH AS MUCH (OR MORE!). CHECK OUT THE BRITISH BRAND "CHARGE PLUG" (HA! AWFUL NAME) AT PERFORMANCE WHICH COMES WITH ALL THE TOP-OF-THE-LINE COMPONENTS PLUS STEEL FRAME AND WEIGHS JUST 24 POUNDS.
ALSO I LIKE THIS BIKE BECAUSE WITH A SIMPLE $34 PART-CHANGE (ON THE REAR-WHEEL) IT'S GEARED FOR STEEP HILL-CLIMBS.

Richard: The type of riding you do will dictate your bike-not the branding so much but that does come into play more so on "real" high performance bikes like Moots-Ellsworth-Intense-ect... the two you mentioned are not upgrades btw. If you ride hard then look for a 60xx metal based frame-if not a 70xx will suffice. Learn the basics then look at components and add that up to match your "style" of riding with your wallet! Best of luck!

I had to google RRP :) ... I think Richard is saying that the Recommended Retail Prices are somewhat inflated at Bikes Direct. Tell me one place that does not do that. In any case you dont go to Bikes Direct to get "name" brands. You get bikes that are made by the same factories as the name brands for less. If you think you can get an equivalently spec'ed bike at Performance than why not... I guess. I suspect few people here has enough knowledge to truely answer that question accurately.

If I knew what an RRP was, I'd be way more able to help. But your question seems to be more about personal preference and I can't help you much with that since it's a good bet mine are different than yours.