I went from a haxd-tail mountain-bike to a cros. My commute is 30 mi RT, 80% on limestone and gravel and hard-pack. I really like it. Have 700x32 Ritchie cross tires on it so don't have to worry about flats and they are comfortable. If you will go off the pavement some a carbon fork absorbs the bumps well. As mentioned make sure it can talke a 32 tire and has braze-ons for rack and the fork and rear can take fenders if you want them.