Hi, newbie to the forum here, looking for some bike advice. I'd like to buy a cyclocross bike that I intend to commute on and ride some dirt trails. I have no serious intentions of racing but I'm willing to drop a couple of thousand to get something nice, comfortable and that won't weigh over 25 lbs so I can transport it on a plan with a bike bag.

About myself, I'm in my 30's, and I live in a snowy area. In winter, I commute about 4-5 miles on my fatbike and winter I was using an older giant OCR A 1 for non-snow days. I pretty much ride 4-5 days out of the week, averaging about 50 miles/week. I plan to use the cx bike to take over my rainy/sunny day commutes and stick to the fatbike for the winter stuff.

I'm torn between the 2014 Giant TCX SLR 0 that is around 2800 and the 2015 Giant TCX Advanced pro, which is around 3500$. When I started looking, I was convinced I wanted a carbon frame. My carbon composite OCR A1 rides so much smoother than my old trek crd-3, but my giant was also twice the cost, so who knows. Essentially the only difference between them is the frame and 2014 bike comes with SRAM red components and the 2015 comes with Ultegra components.

Here are the pros as I see it for the TCX SL R 0
-Cheaper
-Better component set
-Hidden rack mounts (so more versatile if I end up needing to put a rack on it)
-Less flashy (and hopefully attracts less attention on the rare days when I need to lock it up outside)

Cons:
-Aluminum frame (weight and comfort)
-Has SRAM red hydro brakes, which I'm not sure if are recalled or not

So, any thoughts? I'm pretty much sold on getting a giant, as their component set seems to be most competitive in that price range, but I'm also open to other ideas.

Thanks!