I picked up a Cross-Check late last year. Longest ride I've done on it so far is only 80 miles, though. That said:

CC is very comfortable, very solid, very stable. It's excellent for rough surfaces. The crankset is quite versatile -- you can set it up as a compact double or a triple; LBS set it up for me as a a triple at no charge. Tons of room for fenders and wide tires. The components are good, and you can always upgrade them as they wear out. The bike climbs fairly well IMO.

The only issues I've had so far are:

- CC is a little bit slower than a true road bike -- to be specific, it seems like it's harder to go above 17-18mph on the flats, even with 25c slicks. (I don't expect this to be a problem for LD, only for fast group rides.)
- the extra BB height feels a little odd at first.
- sizing is weird: you should probably go for a CC that's 2cm smaller than you normally use. The higher BB throws things off.
- not 100% thrilled with using bar-end shifters and a triple.

I haven't quite figured out the reason for the performance difference, but my current guess is that most of it is the heavy rims.


However, I will say that the Felt looks like a good alternative. I wouldn't sweat the carbon fork at all. I'm not a huge aluminum fan, but that may not be a problem if they constructed the tubing for comfort.

If you are looking for speed and don't want wide tires or fenders, go with the Felt. If you expect to ride on a lot of rough or dirt roads, or use that same bike for other purposes (e.g. commuting, touring) the CC may be a better option.