I read a review of a cyclocross bike in Bicycling magazine a few days ago: it described the bike as "the Swiss Army knife of bikes: fun, remarkably useful and pretty sharp, too... The bike is influenced by cyclocross, but it's hardly a pure race bike. To wit, it has touring and commuter features such as braze-ons for racks and a down-the-middle geometry that's neither too steep nor too slack. The bike can hop curbs, charge a half-mile of light singletrack and rumble unfazed over pothols, rocks and roots, whether you're heading to work or just having fun." This has been what I've been looking for in a bike for several months. Essentially, I want a fast, comfortable, well rounded road bike (I don't want a mountain or hybrid bike) that I can race with, tour with, or commute with. There are two types of bikes that ride like this. Touring bikes and cyclocross bikes, but what exactly is the difference? Which am I best off with? What kind of conditions (aside from off road riding) will make one preferable over the other?