I can't bring myself to pay 1k+ for a bike without riding it first to see whether I like it or not.

I live near Washington DC, and it looks like I can find the Bianchi cyclocross bikes, the Lemond Poprad, the Specialized bikes, some of the mid-high Redline bikes, Jamis Nova, and Cannondale. I haven't found a store with the Trek or the Felt bike in stock, but that seems doable, and one store that stocks Kona Jake the Snake, but haven't heard back from them

But I can't find anywhere for Surly. Does anyone know of a store that tends to stock them, or, barring that, are there any DC area commuters that have a 54 cm Surly CrossCheck that I could try? (54 is what I was fitted on for my Cervelo Dual, so that is what I'm guessing for the CrossCheck, but I suppose finding a 52cm or 56cm would help as well for narrowing down what size to get.

Also, are there any other brands that I should try to make a point of testing?

Thanks,

Lachlan

Mine might be a minority viewpoint . . .

Test-riding is overrated. You spend a few minutes tooling around the parking lot or some side alley, and what will strike you the most are the least important details about how the bars are set up, how inflated the tires are, whether the brakes are correctly adjusted or not, etc etc. You'll never know how the gears work after repeated hard shifts, how the frame will react to a collision, how the ride will feel with a different set of tires.

It's more important to get a careful set of measurements, from yourself and your current bike, and compare them with your prospective ride.

Have you tried these shops?

http://www.surlybikes.com/dealers/pop_DC.html

well when you test ride the available cross bikes,
take some written or mental notes about how they felt,
and then when you get home get online and review the
geometries of the different bikes you're considering.
that way you'll have an idea of how they'll differ in ride and feel,
whether it be chainstay length, bb height, headangle, etcetera,
and then you can see which frame fits your style the best.
good luck! new bike time is awesome.

i work at city bikes in dc, and we currently have steamrollers (52,59), cross checks (52, 58), and long haul truckers (50,52,54) in stock.

i work at the one in DC, and i know the chevy chase store has some as well. call them at 301 652 1777
-danny