Well, my mate who's probably gunna buy a $1500 Gitane, has pretty much never ridden a road bike, and has a MTB that he only really rides in summer.
He jumped on his brother's 2000(ish) steel Pinarello with Campag Centaur, and
said: "I can't fukkn believe how fast the fukkn thing goes"

So, I wouldn't wanna make any big statements, but you'd have to notice a monstrous
difference going from a steel MTB to an alu LeMond with 10spd Ultegra. I'm kinda jealous
(Have I just stated the bleeding obvious?)

YIPEEEEEEEEE