Niles, I don't think the TdF analogy works in the touring sense as: a) The teams have plenty of spare parts and bicycles. b) A professional mechanic's attention is available every night. c) The racers use a different bike for different stage requirements.

I do think that in the future there will be a light carbon fiber tourer built. I would expect it to be more expensive than other premium touring rigs and have a weight advantage over an aluminum tourer, but similar to steel vs. aluminum, not by a staggering amount. In the meantime the ability to handle dead weight consisting of more than a change of clothes and personal items on any sort of carrier by an ultra light high end CF racing frame is questionable in my mind.

Brad