Rivendell Quickbeam vs. Surly Cross Check vs. Black Mountain Cycles Monstercross

My typical road bike is a steel cyclocross bike. Fat tires, strong brakes, and provisions for some useful braze ones make these attractive all-rounders. Today's post covers only my longest serving 'crossy road bikes, I've also had a Soma DoubleCross, a Velo Orange Camargue, and others. But for today, let's focus on these three and see how they compare.

I'll start with subjective stuff

Looks
1. Quickbeam (64cm)

Fleet Update VIII

Here's the latest on my fleet, as (almost) always, most to least favorite at this moment in time:

1. Jones LWB

I haven't been riding my Jones too much lately. The trails are much too soggy this spring for any serious mountain biking, so it's just been the occasional jaunt around the neighborhood.

I am trying out my new Donut Sack bag that I picked up that Ohio swap meet back in March. It's locally sewn by a fellow in Westerville, and looks to be a nice size to carry my wallet, tools, etc and let me ditch the Camelback. My only issue so far is that I wish it had an internal pocket to protect my phone from the tools, etc. that are also in the bag. Maybe an old sock will do the trick.

2. Dahon Speed 7

This little guy has moved up my charts in a big way. I didn't like it all at first, but some new tires transformed it: