After riding nice carbon it's hard to ride anything else. Just feels like what little power I am putting out is being sapped by inefficiencies in the frame design/materials. I still have a 90s Ti bike that makes it off the rack occasionally, but if I'm honest I just enjoy looking at it and riding my carbon bikes. A good aluminum frame feels nice, too, almost like carbon. I've ridden some entry level steel (Reynolds 520, 631) but have been unimpressed. Maybe I will pick up a 853 to try, but my better half may object to me procuring yet another bike I don't need.