I’m building a second bike for fitness riding. I’ll ride about 500 miles per month and the average ride is 40 miles. I’ll also ride with a moderately fast group once a week, we average 18 to 20 mph, but will stay above 21 mph for most of the ride.

I’m looking for a lighter & stiffer road bike, I’m currently riding a steel Cyclocross bike and will continue to use this bike for century & 200k events. I usually fit bikes with tall head-tubes better than bikes with short head-tubes and like the fit of “endurance” bikes more than sprint-race bikes. At this point I'm considering a Soma Smoothie, but would like to know what else is out there.

I'm open minded in terms of steel, aluminum, or carbon. I'm a bigger guy on a bigger frame and I'm not a weight weenie. I'd like a good climber & sprinter that is not excessively harsh riding.