Originally Posted by
ecovelo
My new purchase is a 2010 Salsa Vaya. Very funky geometry, but I need just a few more degrees in seat and head tube angles to accommodate chronic injury. Sadly I will part with the Castro Valley - its a well-made beautiful bike and highly functional for many purposes - but the Vaya just feels so much better for my odd geometry needs
and I absolutely love it!!
I got a Vaya this past fall and I have to second the recommendation. I recently test rode a cross check as well and it was pretty nice too. If you're looking at a commuter, make sure it can take racks, fenders and take some decent sized tires depending on how your roads are. Larger tires make potholes and poor roads less scary. If there's a Surly or Jamis dealer near you, definitely try one out for sizing. I was fitted to a Jamis Aurora Elite before I ordered my Vaya online and the sizing was pretty comparable. I'd suggest trying out both steel and aluminum bikes too to see if you prefer one material before narrowing it down.
One of the great things about CX bikes is for distance, you can just pop off the rack and put on smaller tires for road riding, pop on knobbies or spiked tires for dirt or winter. They can tour but aren't as stiff as pure touring bikes.