Prior to 60x I would agree, but nowadays I personally prefer the look and feel of FireFox. I haven't noticed any real clunkiness outside of Google sites like Gmail either. Chrome might still be smoother, but I haven't used it in over a year now, and I don't miss it. That's the key part for me, FF works well enough that I don't feel like I'm settling.

And I completely agree with you regarding ideological reasons to use FF. You don't have to be a zealot to value your privacy.