Originally Posted by
sstorkel
But why bother? My touring bike can do all of these things, too. Granted, it's 5-10lbs lighter than the steel boat anchors that most tourists ride. But it doesn't suffer from the compromises that many CX bikes offer (double cranks, less than ideal gearing, etc). If the OP is going to move away from the idea of buying a road/race bike, he might be better served by buying a dedicated touring bike or frame.
The Verita is a cool-looking bike! But can it handle larger tires? Specs say that it comes with 700x25 tires. They also say the bike comes with Shimano's mid-reach BR-R650 calipers... but the REI pictures sure don't show a lot of extra clearance around the fender and tire! When carrying any sort of load, I'd want 700x32 or larger tires.
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The verita has the confusingly called "old standard -long reach - mid reach?" brakes that, unless the frame is dimensioned weird, should give a rider clearance for 28c tires with fenders, 32c tires without. Similar to the Surly Pacer, Soma ES, Gunnar Sport, Raleigh Clubman, etc.
not the tire clearances afforded a rider with canti brakes. For those wider tires/sporty bike but not cross bike geometry, The Raleigh Port Townsend or soon to be released Velo Orange Pass Hunter would be great bikes with canti posts, better suited than the cross bikes, for what the OP wants out of the bike. IMO.
I have to reiterate though, for anyone who's fond of bikes and hasn't looked, Raleigh's steel bike line is the afficianado's lineup.
For the prototypical sport touring bike, the Raleigh Clubman really, truly, nails the mark of a bike afficinado's all day comfort bike. they even painted the fenders to match! and a brooks..... this bike is the bike everyone builds up, +/- a few bits here or there.
and, for a little more tire clearance afforded from a canti brake, Raleigh's Port Townsend really nails that category too, offering a bona fide modern classic. Front rack for light loads or a large handlebar bag.... whoever's speccing bikes at Raleigh has taken an accurate pulse of what people are doing with bikes in America.