An update to the thread. I pulled an extra $200 from the bank and purchased a 2014 Avanti Agressor 27.1 for $700.

http://www.avantiplus.co.nz/products/av ... essor-27-1

Looks great and awesome specs. I did find that the gears are having difficulty changing.. might have to get it looked at.

Other than that I'd like to look at getting some road/commuter tires for it, any suggestions?

Great stuff enjoy your new bike.
The poor shifting might be something simple, a clean/lube and adjustment might be the fix. Sheldon Brown's website is a great resource.
http://sheldonbrown.com/gearing/index.html
Also YouTube has a video for every job.
It's a much cheaper hobby if you can do your own maintenance.

There are heaps of good bike maintenance tutorials on the web, many very good. Learning basic bike maintenance saves down at the LBS, and could be the difference between getting a bike mobile 20km from a car or walking 20km. Its not really rocket science, but does need some experience or patience to get right.

I have one of these and its my 'goto' when I maintain bikes rather than my tool box - has everything you need. They are far from workshop quality tools so if you maintain things 'gorilla with a spanner' style, they will damage the bike (or the tool, or you, or all three). I turfed the crank puller on mine after it stripped the thread on a crank I was trying to pull (Yes, I was doing it 'right, the crank was tight and the puller threads were a sloppy fit. The Park tool one I got was a good fit and pulled the crank no problems).