Hello,

I have used my 60cm Doublecross with REI Transfer and Ortlieb Roller racks. My shoes are size 11 1/2 and I have plenty of clearance. I use an Old-Man-Mountain rack on the back with no special setup.

The bike is very solid. I run Mavic Open Pros with 32mm tires for most riding. I switch a lighter set of rims with narrower tires when I want to keep up with my road pack buddies. My friends like to call my Doublecross a "hybrid" which is fine with me.

My road pack buddies run Ti and Carbon bikes and I can keep up with them just fine. None of them are heavy duty racers - mostly just weekend rider types.

I have also ridden my Doublecross through plenty of tough dirt trails and if you run wider tires maybe down to 60 psi you can get a pretty decent ride on most dirt.

My bike is setup with XT hubs, XT rear der, 105 front der, Ultegra triple crank and 105 sti shifters. Its a very robust setup and I have been very happy with it. I run XTR canti brakes front and back.

One thing - initially I had the bike built with Avid Shorties and they squeeked like crazy so I switched to the XTR Cantis which have been fantastic. The front Avid was so loud that it worked well as a horn - I was happy to get rid of it!

Out the door with the rack my bike cost just over 2k - custom built from an LBS that I like here in San Diego. In terms of price you would like be better off with a non-custom build!!

I have also done a few short tours on the bike with front and rear racks - carrying around 45 lbs in "freight" I would guess.

The Doublecross has been a very versatile setup for me. Of course there are alot of great bikes out there - the DC is just one of them.

I leave early next week on a 200 mi tour in AZ. I will be taking the Doublecross - definately looking forward to it.

Chris