I built up a Double Cross shortly before the tour, and since it was the closest thing to a touring bike I owned, I toured on it. Tossed a slimline Axiom rack on the back, and tried for some front panniers, but it just wasn't a good idea. The proximity of the bags to the rotor made me nervous. The rear rack required a bit of cleverness to mount, since it's a taller frame, a smaller rack, and the bike has pretty short chain stays. Once on, it didn't give me any trouble.
The chain stay length on the other hand became a reoccurring issue, not helped by the fact that I have pretty large feet, and long cranks. By moving the bags all the way back things worked out ok, but that put the entirety of my load on or behind the rear axle. Not exactly ideal, considering that the bike is pretty heavily rear loaded to start with.
That said, the handling wasn't terribly affected by this, and in actual use the main problem was a higher rate of rear punctures, and faster wear on the rear tire.
The short chain stays were nice in that the bike remained tight even when loaded, and shimmy or speed wobbles were never a major concern. If credit-card touring this frame would do nicely, as it's light enough to scoot up hills, but still stiff. Using a fork with eyelets for front panniers would help to even everything out weight wise.
Overall, the Double Cross worked well as an improvised touring bike, and I have no desire to swap it out for a more touring specific bike. That said, if you really want a touring specific frame, you might avoid the Double Cross.
(It's a cross bike, duh.)
(Robert)
