Thought I'd chime in here, I've had a Croix de Fer for about a year & have done PBP, the BCM scenic and the rest of an SR series on it. I've changed the saddle, the cassette for a 12-23, put 25mm tyres on it and the wheels have just been rebuilt.
Pros: Extremely comfortable, agile & fun to ride, rides well loaded, the components are great.
Cons: Heavy, flexy fork, the brakes are consistently shite and you can't change them for avid ones due to restrictions on the front mount, the wheels aren't great.