Indy-- I have asked, and the answer I got was something along the lines of "Well, I'm concerned that you won't enjoy it and you'd have wasted your money." While I do understand that concern over the mountain bike, I'm not entirely sure I understand it about the CX bike. I wonder if he thinks I'm compromising my desire for a new road bike or that I'm cheaping out and getting something that doesn't meet my criteria for a road bike because it's cheap. I did try to explain to him that that wasn't the case and the CX bike fills a different niche, but I'm not sure he listened.

Shootingstar--Even though he was the one that got me into cycling, I've done far more miles by myself than with him. Granted, we've been long-distance much of the time that I've been riding, but I think I've done only 60 miles with him over the last three years.