After riding my Roubaix, I was throwing rocks at my aluminum Secteur. Roubaix has 25's, Secteur has 32's and the Roubaix is by far the smoother bike.

I'm in the 265 range and ride carbon as well. 1,700 miles so far, no asplosions.

I rode with a big guy the other day that has his Roubaix loaded down with Randonneering (sic?) paraphernalia. He said he is notorious for breaking bikes and hasn't been able to break his Roubiax's. He has two and rides them in those 400 mile/24 hours deals.

I am 258 lbs My Trek Domane 4.0 does not seem to mind

This of course is my opinion, so dont get all bent. IMO the riders of steel, aluminium, and especially titanium bikes will have much longer use of their bikes than one made out of carbon fiber, which really is a reinforced plastic bike.

^^^ that's quite amusing. Seen this?
NOVA | Neanderthals Defy Stereotypes

Carbon fiber is carbon fibers in a resin matrix. Mankind has been using resins far longer than we've been working with metals.

I have to admit the new Specialized Allez has a pretty decent ride for an aluminum bike. The hydroformed tubing helps change the game. I am a long time hater of aluminum bikes, at least since the mid 90's models. The extreme vertical stiffness was not worth the loss of weight. I was involved in designing some of these bikes and disliked my own work. Just to make them tolerable we had to fit them out with carbon forks, carbon seat post, Ti stems, etc.. Currently I am switching back and forth from my Look carbon and my vintage Hetchins steel. Both are very different. I would take the carbon for very long rides, the vertical compliance of the carbon is heavenly but the acceleration of the steel bike leaves the carbon lacking.

Maybe it takes a long demo ride to see what carbon is all about. After a few miles of demoing a carbon bike at the LBS and near by bike path, well i just didn't get it and told them so. My two road bikes are steel touring bikes so maybe that has come into play, may need to ride side by side to see what the fuss is about.

My gut tells me that for the small amount of riding i do, it probably won't matter much. If your a recreational rider then it is about the joy of riding and getting exercise. It may be that a carbon bike will offer less exercise and kind of defeats the purpose? i.e. shaving some weight off the barbells to make it easier to lift LOL.

Use a Carbon Post and it will help remove that. I have one in my Trek CrossRip Commuter and its glorious.

It must depend on the person, really. I rode my steel touring bike for 30 years and loved it, but a test ride on a carbon Domane took me all of 30 seconds going over some rough pavement to see it was way more comfortable, as well as being much lighter. It turns out I get more exercise on it because there's more reward to pushing, and since I enjoy the faster rides I go out more often, 50% more miles the last two years. (Your mileage may not vary)

I can see your point of view, some have told me that the mere investment of big dollars into better equipment encourages them to use it. My local Trek shop encourages demo rides on the Domane so may need to take a second look at the thing. Whatever gets people riding is good in my opinion, perhaps carbon is the answer for the average Joe. My LBS thinks that when the electric assist bike is perfected that this will be the next big thing. The way he describes the future of those things, it sounds like a lot of fun: pro bicyclist performance for minimal effort.

I have one carbon frame, don't know how good it is because it was given to me, but I certainly doubt that it's up there with the really good ones. It is a very comfortable bike and I quite like it - makes me want to try a better carbon bike. I'm thinking that if I did I'd become a die-hard carbon fan. On the other hand there's more to a bike than just the frame material. For long (100+ miles), steady rides I don't think I'll ever replace my '87 Paramount. There's a reason those Waterford built Paramounts are revered. My Reynolds 531 Waterford 1100 becomes a wonderful ride when you really start to push it hard - the "springiness" of 531 tubing really gives it a unique feel, especially on fast downhills on less than perfect pavement. Finally, my old Cannondale touring bike. Yes, it's stiff (which I like - efficient transfer of power from the pedals to the wheels, which is nice when carrying heavy loads) and harsh, but that doesn't matter. With a 44 inch wheelbase and about 85 lbs pressure in the 27x1 1/4 tires it smooths itself out very nicely. As much as I like the pros and cons of each frame material, I take into consideration a number of other things also (but I'd still like to try a high-end carbon road bike).