Originally Posted by
Bandera
It's an open ended comparison since I didn't note any specific budget from the OP just bogusness from the "local riders/LBS" who don't sell quality lightweight steel frames and incorrectly dismiss them as "too noodly for a rider of my size/strength". "Noodly" (I'm guessing at whatever that technical term means) is not a characteristic of a well designed & manufactured steel frameset. Waterford being an example or a $700 Soma Stanyan frameset at a modest price.
Is a $6,000 Pinarello Dogma 2 frameset a better comparison to a custom $2,500 Waterford?
Well designed CF or Alum framesets will be lighter than steel and can be just as "noodly", "punishing", "vertically compliant", "plane-ing" or whatever the marketing speak of the day requires designers, engineers and manufacturers to produce.
I'm not an apologist for steel, although I own several (and Alumium & CF) but sheer utter nonsense needs to be called out as such and myths eliminated from serious discourse.
-Bandera
Good points. I am in the steel is real camp. It is somewhat of a niche these days but you don't have to buy a Waterford to get steel. Jamis, Surly, Soma, Velo Orange, and Salsa all make steel frames. Most are not in the super lightweight category, but is is possible to build up a 20 lb bike or slightly less for less than many carbon fiber bikes these days which isn't bad, maybe just a couple of lbs heavier than comparable cf. Unless you are planning on competing at an elite level, you will hardly notice a difference.