Quote Originally Posted by spokewench View Post
The problem with finding a cyclocross bike (at least in my experience) is that if you are 5'4", somewhere around a 30- 31 inch inseam, like I am, if you downsize to a smaller than race bike bike, you may very easily have toe overlap. If you make the triangle smaller (i.e. with a more dropped top tube, you decrease the size of the triangle and that makes it hard to get your arm easily through the triangle when carrying and sometimes you need to modify your carrying style to hold onto the bottom of the downtube, etc.
I had the same problem, but have found the answer in getting a bike with an appropriately small frame and 26-inch wheels. The Terry Valkyrie uses 26-inch wheels on the smaller frame sizes and keeps an open triangle in all but the very smallest size. I am loving it! No toe overlap, super responsive, and I feel more like I'm wearing it than riding on top of it.