I had a triplecross that I used as a gravel/long distance bike for a little while until I bent the fork in a crash. It was a really nice riding bike, I kind of miss it. I went with bar-end shifters and v-brakes since I started with a bare frame. I'd do brifters and cantis nowadays and probably 8 or 9 speed stuff since it's a 135mm rear end there are lots of decent hybrid wheels out there for cheap... the only thing I wished was that it had a lower BB but it wasn't a dealbreaker.