shouldnt spend more than 450 on the frameset. Hell I spent 425 on mine. and you can find some solid wheelsets on ebay pretty cheap (if you dont mind ****ty colors). Personally I think the soma is better but they failed big time by having vertical dropouts. the crosscheck does make a solid fixed or single speed. I also race cross on it now. there is also something to be said about its not so thin tubing. I have toured cross country on it, crashed it a lot, had it stolen and gotten back, its still kicking.