Oh no, it's going to be a gearing thread after all! 46-11 is plenty for any normal human, that's my opinion. The difference between 46 and 50 is less than one rear shift. I really blame the getup-and-go on wheels or tires or frame. Both your candidates are very similar with aluminum frames and apparently the same wheels and fork. The road bike might sit more upright and it might have a lower bottom gear (34-32 vs 36-28). The cross bike might have more ground clearance. But I can find little on the Web about these models, the Performance site seems to be the only place they exist since they are exclusive models and the Sportif version is giving me 404 errors and I can't find a geometry chart for the Cross.

The reason not to get a road bike and install larger tires, is usually that they may not fit, especially not with fenders, but looking at the two models there's very little difference, is there?