Help Please, new to this, deciding on a Giant?

Brad Pflugh

I am deciding on a bike from my local dealer. I can get a good deal on a Giant. I already have the Giant Cypress LX. I ride paved trails, crushed limstone trails, and have been trying longer 3-4 day rides down through the Allegheny Towpath trail which is often dirt/gravel, but nothing to wicked and I don't do anything really crazy like off-roading with it. I have hit some rough spots though with potholes and mud.
I'm really new to this, only a year under my belt and last Summer we did our first 4-day ride putting on about 50 miles a day and timed it out to stay at a hotel of some sort, bought the saddle bags and such, but I love it and would like to upgrade to something with a little less weight. The shop has the "FCR" Series, and I was looking at a FCR 1, it looked light weight, and he said I could put better tires on and modfiy a few things. Its labeled a "Road Fitness Bike" ...However, looking at some fourms I saw that people said their is not enough spokes and that they can pop out on this model? I wanted to stay under $800.00 if possible and this looked like a good uograde, I'm not a tough rider on crazy trails, but I do plan on doing several long multi-day trails every Summer, and they are usually dirt/gravel mix. Anyway... looking for advice before I purchase.. thanks for any help, I know I'm a bit wordy!