Currently I have a Specialized Dolce (48 cm I think?) for my road rides and a Trek FX 7.2 for my 11-mile roundtrip commute and short around-town rides. I hate the hybrid, and am going to reward myself for paying off my student loans 6 years early by selling it and buying a new bike!

Things I don't like about the hybrid that I hope the new bike will solve:
1) Aluminum fork KILLED my hands doing the C&O this year, despite getting trekking bars -- so I'll def go either steel or carbon fork
2) The damn v-brakes on my hybrid are difficult to adjust properly and always get knocked against the rim and start rubbing.
3) I feel like a dork sitting so upright, and when I wear my laptop backpack the straps pull on my shoulders from being so upright. Also the upright angle gives me difficulty in the netherregion on longer rides.
4) I just generally feel like I can't harness any power on my hybrid and its really slow to ride. Not that I need to race my commute but it would be nice to be on a more fun bike. The geometry doesn't let me do a proper standing climb or duck under the wind.


So I'm trying to decide between getting a touring or cross bike. The new bike will be primarily for my commute and riding around town, like I mentioned, but the husband and I are hoping to do more bike touring in the future as well, and I won't be able to get another bike for that. Minimal trails/offroad riding, no interest in actual cross racing.

What I see as the pros/cons of each type of bike (may not be accurate!):

Cross bike -- faster and more fun, better for around town and my bike commute, but limited loading capabilities and possibly unsteady under a load?

Touring bike -- slower and steadier which I may find frustrating, but obviously more suited for the touring we hope to do. Husband claims touring bikes can be unsteady when *not* loaded, although I'm having a hard time believing that.

I'm not sure how much the load *really* matters -- we did a few nights camping on the C&O just fine with rear panniers on both of our bikes (husband has a steel cyclocross from bikes direct) and my husband pulling a trailer. I don't actually think we'd need many more things for a long tour, we'd just have to wash clothes and repurchase food along the way.

I will also have to choose between steel and aluminum/carbon I guess - do touring bikes come as aluminum/carbon?

I've tried to do some research on this, but I started reading things about "heel clearance" and "high bottom brackets" and my head started spinning (what is the point of a low vs high center of gravity?). I'm concerned I will make the mistake of getting the better "all around" bike and will then be frustrated with it not being good at anything -- this is basically what happened with my hybrid, after all.

I'm open to specific bike suggestions - I've heard good things about the Surley cross check, but I wonder how I will feel about a steel bike as I've never ridden one.