So, I've beed riding my AL frame Giant OCR1 for 6 years now, and I'm starting to think about upgrading. I've been thinking that it would take $2500+ to make significant gains - something like this, for instance:
http://www.lynskeyperformance.com/st...-complete.html
Then I walked into my LBS the other day to pick up some stuff and I see they have a bunch of Madone 3.1s on sale for just under $1600 - I am very tempted to pick one up, and give carbon a try. I want to feel less beat up at the end of a 70 - 100 mile ride.
Is it worth moving up to a Madone 4-series or other brand equivalent to get things like a tapered head tube? I also saw a Scott CR-1 for $1600 last weekend, so it's clear that carbon frames with 105 level components can be had for this price, perhaps only at the end of the season.
I probably need to wait and test ride a bunch of bikes next Spring, but not many local shops carry Ti or even steel framed road bikes, so it's hard to compare. Are these deals too good to pass up?