Cross checks are a great bike if you want something affordable that can do a little of everything. Is it a "great" race bike or touring bike, no but it was never meant to be although it can handle those things just fine.

As far as weight goes it is pretty similar to any other bike in its price range, people always forget that the weight of a bike comes mostly from the components hung from it and not so much the frame. there might be a 2lb difference between a very high end frame and a cheaper frame like the cross check, the other 20+ lbs come from component selection and if you are going to build a bike that can handle serious commuter duty and maybe some touring you do not spec it with parts that are as light as what would be found on a race bike.

My only complaint with the CC is its short head tube, even that is not that big of a concern as if you want to get your hands higher, surly does not limit how many spacers you can use under the stem, it is just not as pretty having a huge stack of spacers over just a few.