I'm no expert but from the ridding I've done, my "steel" forks have a smoother ride than the alloy forked bikes I've had, steel absorbs road shock better than alloy, jmho. Carbon Fibre gives you the "smoother ride" of steel but the lighter weight of alloy, kinda the best of both worlds. My wife has bikes with both steel and carbon fiber forks and she tell's me that see does not notice a "real" difference in the "ride" but the carbon forked bike is a bit more lively feeling. YMMV.