Absolutely agree. No one frame material alone will make any noticeable difference, but when coupled with how much flex is in your fork, bars, wheels, seat post, cranks - you will feel a difference on how the bike rides over bumps or in a hard sprint. Light rims with low rotational mass will spin up fast, and will accelerate faster than heavy deep v rims.

Even though aluminum is lighter than steel, my AL bike is built with very stiff components and heavier wheels. If feels stiff, like every ounce of effort is transferred directly to the wheels. 2 different bikes, different feel.

I'm still just as slow on either, but still favor my steel bike.