I do some photo work and some of the sites, serotta and rags, recomend that you raise the seat height on a bike when you take the shot to make it look "Fast" Never agreed with that logic, but that is what they do.
Agree on the AL, rode a few and did not like them. Did the Al fork as it was stock on my Serotta. Upgraded to a carbon fiber fork and I will never do AL again. I will stick to Titanium or steel. JMHO