I love steel bikes and own three rando style bikes, including an Alex Singer, an Atlantis and a bunch of old Miyatas. They are great bikes for a range of duties, and are very practical. They do well on long rides in varying conditions and can be pretty quick for a "heavy" bike.
But just recently I bought a Trek Domane. Mainly out of curiosity as I've never owned or ridden a CF bike before. Oh my god. What an amazing bike. Apart from the incredibly low weight (about 5 kilos lighter than a light rando bike), the bike is very supple with 25mm tyres on it. It floats over potholes and bumps almost as well as a 650b x 42 bike. It doesn't plane quite as well as a very light steel frame, but when you're in the mood to pedal hard it responds.
Originally Posted by
Six jours
I can see my bikes just fine when I'm riding them. Maybe you just aren't looking in the right direction.
But I rode carbon bikes when the concept of carbon bikes was brand new. And frankly, the only thing those bikes offered was light weight. In pretty much every other way, they sucked. So there's a part of my brain that still expects carbon bikes to be underwhelming, and so whenever I ride one, they - surprise! - strike me as underwhelming. The flip side is that I hang on every word Jan Heine writes, so when I throw a leg over an old French steel rando, I expect to be dazzled. And, surprise, I usually am.
So, next iteration: "A bike will probably be whatever you expect it to be." That may be why the carbon sellers spend so much on advertising - and why riders of carbon bikes so often sound like marketing guys.