Originally Posted by njkayaker

Note that I don't own one but I was looking at it (and I did try one).

Obviously, you should try a few different bikes (eg, Cannondale, Trek 520, LHT, and Rocky Mountain Sherpa). If you can't do that, you'd be fine "getting stuck" with the Cannondale (I'm fairly certain). Ideally, you should at least try it though.

People have all sorts of different opinions and preferences: it's one reason why there are different touring bikes.

There's enough evidence (in my opinion) that the Cannondale is a good touring bike. It's gonna be hard for anybody to be sure that it's going to be the best one for you.