I had the same decision earlier this year. My commuter for the past few years was a Bianchi San Jose which was perfect for the commute but useless for everything else. I needed one bike to be a backup road bike for club rides, a rain bike, a commuter, a brevet bike and maybe a touring bike.

I wanted to buy the complete bike instead of building up a frameset to save money. I'm not a compulsive upgrader; I'm counting on using most of the major components at least 5K and hopefully twice that.

My local shop has a good selection of LHTs and a few CCs. The owner pushed the LHT. His wife pushed the CC. Guess which one each of them ride?

I rode both, discussed the merits of each at the shop with the owners and customers, talked to some local rando guys, flagged down some tourers out on the road and read too many opinions on the net.

It was a tough decision but I ended up with a CC. They rode differently but the CC suits my current needs better.

I did make a few changes from stock. I changed the seatpost to a Salsa Shaft because I like the adjustment cam on the Shaft. I wanted to be able to dial in the Brooks Pro from the San Jose quickly. The Brooks only lasted one ride though before I put on a used Aliante Sport. I also changed the tires to Pasela TGs and put on my rusty Eggbeaters.

The only other thing that needs to be changed is the cassette, from an 11-25 to a 12-27. I'll do that when I do the first chain replacement.

All in all I'm happy with the CC. I probably would have been just as happy or close with the LHT. You really can't lose with either.