Originally Posted by
globecanvas
That is an astute observation. The truth is, there's no holy grail. A bike can't be as stiff as the Tarmac and as comfortable as the Cooper.
The performance difference is for real, though. There was a 50-mile charity challenge last month that I had trained for on the Cooper, but did the event on the Tarmac. I blew away my best training time by almost 20 minutes, setting all sorts of personal bests. Some of that is race-day overachievement, but whatever the cause, the proof is in the result.
I don't know. My personal experience with super-stiff bikes is similar--they FEEL fast, but then they just start to hurt. I would never have survived a century on my old Pinarello F4:13 with Fulcrum Racing 1's, for instance. I guess the F4:13 wasn't a disappointment--the handling and responsiveness were awesome--but by the end of a longish road race it did start feeling like pedaling a steel I-Beam. For me, i.e. someone who's NOT a 140-lb bike racer who needs only a good pair of tires for all-day shock absorption, it was a bummer.
I'm as happy with my R230 speed and handling-wise as I've ever been with my CAAD8 or Pinarello, and find it all-day comfortable. At 210lb with max powers around 1500-1600W, I don't have enough in me to flex it noticeably.