Ridden: Cross check vs Divderge...
Yesterday and today I test rode a Surly cross check, and a Specialized divergence (tiagra). Here's my plus/minus of each, but to give away the ending, The cross check was just way more fun to ride...
Cross Check:
+not as heavy as it looks
+coming from a road bike, I expected it to be sluggish, but it wasn't...took right off.
+very stable feeling.
+bigger tires
-bar end shifters
-ergo bars, which puts the cable from the bar end shifter in an odd place.
Diverge:
+2016 tiagra with hidden shift cables...very nice shifting...I'm impressed with shimano.
-ugly orange
-smaller tires, and only takes up to 35mm tires.
-Mechanical disk brakes were making some rubbing noise...I know nothing about disk brakes, so it may have been normal, I don't know....I didn't like it.
-overall, the 30mm tires just didn't feel that much different from a road bike...and I think specialized should have allowed for more tire clearance...the cross check, Giant revolt, and Jamis renegade all take at least 40, making them more versatile. Diverge just wasn't as fun.