Originally Posted by
Cleave
@
chasm54, I was relatively late to the carbon game and bought my first one in 2003. All of my road racing bikes have been carbon since 2006. I built up my 1990 Stowe Triad (full Columbus SL) a couple of years ago with newer (10-speed) components. I only rode steel road race bikes -- no touring bikes -- and I was always comfortable on them. After riding the Stowe a few times, I couldn't believe how harsh it was compared to any road bike that I'm using now. Had no desire to ride the Stowe again. Stripped it to build a road bike for my wife and sold the frame (finally) just before Christmas.
Moral of my story: Most any reputable carbon road race frame will ride more comfortably than any "classic" steel road race frame. (Not sure what that means for your purchasing decision but the thread title is shooting the...)
Haven't heard any of the newbies in my club complain about a harsh riding carbon frame like I used to hear in the steel bike era.
To me, fit and front end geometry are probably the most important factors in selecting a bike for someone. Have fun shopping.
Well, I agree with the last statement. And I'll almost certainly be buying her a carbon bike unless there's some killer deal on high-end alloy with carbon forks. But fwiw, I don't agree about the relationship between comfort and frame material. The nicest-riding bikes I've owned have been steel (one of them with carbon forks, admittedly) and the steel tourer I've just bought is another superbly comfortable machine. I don't conclude, however, that steel is "more comfortable" than carbon. All those steel bikes were set up for comfort, two being tourers and the road frame being custom built to specs discussed between me and the framebuilder. It would be disappointing if it weren't comfortable, and I'm quite sure a carbon frame with similar geometry would feel just as good. My carbon race bike is also a very comfortable ride, it's just more aggressive and so less relaxing.
In my experience the frame material matters least, after fit/geometry, forks, tyres, maybe even seatpost. But in this instance I'm buying for a regular bicycle commuter who's a latecomer to road bikes. It's looking like a slightly better than entry level woman-specific road bike like a 105-equipped Trek Silque or Giant Avail Advanced or similar. Nice carbon bikes. Not much steel available in that category, even if I wanted to go retro!
Incidentally, I see Giant have rebranded their women's bikes as "Liv". I think we'll see more of this marketing segmentation to distinguish their higher-end products too, like Toyota and Lexus and all that.