Originally Posted by SDS
"I really feel that the whole steel drive on this forum is just overblown, but everyone is entitled to their opinion and this is mine."
Right! We're not paying for or riding your bike, you are.
That said, I want to know what you meant. Is it your perception that there is a consistent claim that "the smooth and lively ride of (preferably lugged...) steel is superior to any other material...", or what?
My opinion: Sure, I'd love to have the vertically compliant ride of standard-diameter steel, but I am unwilling to give up the lateral rigidity and efficiency and light weight of large diameter aluminum. I can tell the difference. And in a time-challenged life I don't have time to do the wiping that steel owners will have to do to avoid corrosion. Might try Ti in a decade or two, but I don't see picking CF unless I can afford a custom Calfee. Craig Calfee winds his tubes from fiber to conform to each customer, which is something production bikes can't match. This wouldn't matter if I were an average weight/size rider, but at the upper end of the range (6'2" 180 lbs), I won't be best served by some production bikes.
Wiping that steel owners will have to do to avoid corrosion********** I've cleaned my bikes up every now and then, as we all do to make them look good, but not to avoid corrosion. I've never given it a thought. My steel bikes are 20+ years old and don't have any corrosion, and they're stored in a damp basement, and they've seen their share of rain. I don't wipe them down after a wet ride. I'm usually just happy to be home.
There are lots of reasons to want/not want steel. Corrosion is not one of them.