Commuting - why surly cross check over soma double cross?

Decided to post this in Commuting because a search for "surly cross check" resulted in most posts here.

Thinking about building up a cross bike for commuting and maybe some light trails. Unlikely to enter an event. It seems like the Surly Cross Check is recommended about 20 to 1 over the Soma Double Cross. But when I compare them, I think the Soma seems like a better choice. It's got better steel (631 vs 4130) so it's lighter by about .7 pounds. The only thing I see better on the Surly is the disc mounts, but I don't plan to use them anyway. Oh, the Surly web site is better too. But I can't ride a web site. :)

I've been to a few shops where they sell Somas only, and they say they are great. But nobody has both or enough experience with both to give me a useful comparison. So I turn to you.

Maybe it's because nobody is familiar with Soma. Could that be it?

http://www.somafab.com/frames.html

Why use cyclocross geometry for commuting? There is no advantage.
The Surly Pacer has traditional road bike geometry (it's a copy of a Rivendell), the LHT makes a fine commuting bike, and I understand
Soma has a road bike as well. I think any of those would be better
suited to commuting.

The only thing I see better on the Surly is the disc mounts, but I don't plan to use them anyway.

...and you can scratch that off the list since the Cross-Check doesn't actually have disc mounts.

The pacer is really not a copy of any Riv. model, and might be a decent commuter if you can live with 28c tires, max. The chainstays are short for a rack, but you'd have to try it.

The Soma bikes come with (IMO) better tubing and look to be slightly lighter. My pick of the bunch would be a Soma Smoothie ES, though the double cross looks nice too. Maybe even a Surly Long Haul Trucker. It really depends what *else* you want to do with this bike, the tire sizes you want to run, and whether racks/panniers are nice or necessary.

I commute with a surly pacer. I love it. I run freddy fenders and Conti top touring 28mm there is plenty of clearence. Even covered in hockey tape and fendered, I can do 22mph pulls for quite a distance. I read this forum because I want to build up a "Salt" commuter, I was thinking of the cross check so I could run studded tires. I would love to know what you decide.

The pacer is really not a copy of any Riv. model, and might be a decent commuter if you can live with 28c tires, max. The chainstays are short for a rack, but you'd have to try it.

The Soma bikes come with (IMO) better tubing and look to be slightly lighter. My pick of the bunch would be a Soma Smoothie ES, though the double cross looks nice too. Maybe even a Surly Long Haul Trucker. It really depends what *else* you want to do with this bike, the tire sizes you want to run, and whether racks/panniers are nice or necessary.

LOML got a new bike in November so we have an "extra" Trek sitting around. Since it probably would sell for about 1/2 of what we paid for it (not worth it IMO), we have decided to use most of the components from the Trek and put them on a new cross frame. It would be a bike we could both ride to work and be an alternate ride as compared to our rack and pannier adorned daily commuters.

We wouldn't put rack/panniers on it; probably just use a backpack or messenger bag on the days we rode it, thus providing an upright, agile and spirited ride.

Tires I'm thinking about are Ritchey Speedmax Cross. Knobbies on the sides and pretty flat in the middle.

There's an outside chance I might enter a cyclocross race with it, but undoubtedly in the slowest of the slow category. Saw a race last fall and laughed our butts off at all the mud on the bikes.

Can the Pacer take the 35mm snow tires and fenders that my Cross Check can take? I think 28's are the minimum for a fully-loaded commuter. You might end up wanting wider tires than that.

That sounds right to me, 28 with fenders, and 32's(?) with out.

Any chance you'd ever want to set it up as a single speed / fixed gear bike? The Cross Check has semi-horizontal dropouts so that's an option if you ever want to try it out (unlike the LHT or Soma Double Cross). Otherwise, I was not aware of the Double Cross, and if the price were about the same I probably would do as you say and go with the one with the better tubing.

I doubt I'd ever convert it to a fixed gear. But someday I'd like to buy an old beater road bike and build the poor man's version. Just not this one.

Price is about the same. I've seen the Soma in the low 300s w/o fork and about $400 with a lugged fork.

I would think the Soma would be less theft prone as well, due to it's name not being as well known. Surly says "steal me" to me.

Soma also offers the "Smoothie ES," a road frame designed around long brake calipers and with rack/fender mounts. That's another good frame to look at and maybe caliper brakes have a little less "steal me" about them than cantilevers.

They seem fairly similar except for the longer top tube and wheelbase and obviously cantilevers. I think these bikes are great looking:

http://www.somafab.com/dcxblu58built.JPG
and
http://www.somafab.com/dcxgrn_hdtube_newstd.JPG

Nothing much, except for the Surly mystique. The mystique and the drop outs. I find myself second guessing my Long Haul Trucker purchase. The only thing that sold me on the Trucker over the Soma Smoothie ES was the mystique.

It's not so much a "mystique" as it is a cult.

-(Happy) Surly Owner