The on going love affair with steel while perhaps not totally baffling is a throwback to another time.

Do you guys remember Euro who was a pretty controversial guy here who I believe got banned a long time ago and hasn't returned...in least any form I have recognized.

He was from 'Europe' of course and a knowledgeable bike guy and he said that infatuation with steel was largely a US thing and nobody in Europe rode steel bikes or if they were around they were old bikes. If Europeans weren't on carbon than they were on Al. Reasons are manifold but basically Al can be hydroformed to create asymmetric tube sections for differential stiffness in opposing planes and of course Al is lighter. If you check with Bianchi for example, they didn't sell a single steel bike in Europe and only one or two steel models in US, of which I used to own one. If you look at Specialized, Giant, Trek, pretty much all the big guys, none of them sell a steel bike or if they do it is an outlier compared to Al which is ubiquitous.

My view is a slightly wider tire will tune out any road harshness based upon Al especially today with the new Al bike designs. Many say a CAAD10 or Specialized Secteur rivals the comfort level of carbon and without a ride penalty and of course Al can be made very stiff as well, not because of its inherently low modulus but rather selection of tube sections that create stiffness. Also Al doesn't rust. I just don't see the love for steel now and I have owned 30 of them.