Originally Posted by MZilliox

Here is my feedback. My wife and I just went through this. She ended up choosing from the LBS and very nice Trek 520 touring bike. Very practical, easy to ride and maintain, stable, no bells and whistles, perfect bike for her really. I'm a more experienced cyclist with experience mainly on older crappy steel frames. This makes me pickier. I find new bikes to feel cheap and plastic until you get to a certain price point. Our shop didn't have what I want really, so I looked to the used market and found much better buys on the used market. I ended up with double the bike of my budget but i only spent half my budget. The bike i ended up with has much highe rend components than anything new in the bike shop. I'm still fixing the bike up, using money saved to buy high end parts to upgrade the bike even further. Now my wife wishes she would have waited for me to do the same for her because she could have a great bike thats also "cuter" than the Trek 520, and possibly for less money.

that being said, of the 3 choices you present, I would be inclined to have the closest look at the cross-check since you enjoyed riding it the most. this bike with a more "road style" tire setup could be the answer. you can commute quickly, but still have fun on the weekends on trails. its a very practical bike.