believe me, I switched SPI-modes many times. I think, that the use of the 50 Mhz oszillator on a breadboard is a major problem. On the evaluation board the same device is used (big metal box), but of course the routing is more appropriate.
On an other breadboard I'm using the ADS1248 (24 bit ADC) with no problems at all. At the beginnig it was difficult, but now it works very well and I wouldn't consider this IC as easy to use. The difference is, that the ADS1248'S manual is more detailed.