Originally Posted by In2daBlue

Thanks for the comments. It's helpful to read people's comments to my OP. Really appreciate the knowledge of the forum.

To respond to some specific things: my budget is what it takes to buy the right frame for the next 20,000 miles... and I mean that, within reason. I have a budget but most high-end brands fall within it... Parlee doesn't, but most do.

I'm not inclined to get an "endurance bike" as much as I'm chasing geo/characteristics to serve a specific purpose (light-weight, fast when needed and fun, but comfortable for long days and hilly terrain). Trying to research what that actually looks like in terms of geo or a given bike is harder as the stuff I find on Google tends to be mouthpiece literature/marketing for bike makers and because guys at different LBS seem a hard time talking about bikes they can't sell, making the "if not this, than what?" conversation hard to have with honesty.

Chaadster, your comment was helpful in that sense. I don't understand geo enough to know how to best fill my need. Once I do, I can research the heck out of different frames that fit that spec (or close) and then ensure a proper fit.