All my bikes have somewhat similar geometry and components, but different frame material. I definitely feel fastest on the full carbon, and followed by the steel bike, and feel the slowest on the titanium one. I did a few experiments and the actual speed difference for the same ride under similar conditions turned out to be very small (<0.2 mph).

So what exactly makes you feel fast? Is it the difference in the flex of the frame?

it's all in your head.

Get close to the ground. On a trike, you feel like you're moving fast even when you're slow.

Generally I feel faster if there is less effort at the same speed. So riding at 25mph with a tailwind feels fast, but a full on effort to achieve 25mph into headwind feels slower.

maybe. if the carbon is stiffer, it probably accelerates faster, and that might be noticeable...but it won't change your avg speed much over the course of the ride.

i haven't ridden Ti (or a nice steel road bike for that matter), but i would guess road feel also has something to do with it. don't steel and Ti have a softer ride than carbon? that might make them feel a little less quick and snappy...don't really know, just speculating.

Wheelsets might be the culprit here.

Other than that i think it's also a function of cadance. If i'm doing a hard effort at high cadances i feel a lot faster than trying to mash a low gear despite equal speeds.

Sounds like a variation of placebo effect.

Unless you went out of your way to check and adjust them, I'd be very surprised if you cycle computers are calibrated within 1% of each other.

Yeh right, lighter bikes aren't faster, sure...yup. Sounds like a job for mythbusters.

I have only ever experienced the former of the two, so I have no opinion.

Is the CF bike red? The color makes a difference and red is fastest.

This

I feel must faster on my Al road bike than on my steel ones but really I'm not. I just feel everything on the road with the Al bike and for some reason that translates to speed.

I used the same computer.

The carbon is red, the steel is blue, and the ti is brushed.

GPS? I wonder what the repeatability is for the same route.

There could be a variance in tire diameter. The only way to accurately compare is with elapsed time on the exact same route, with no red lights or other variable stops.

What if he compares on a century? How do you time that? I'm just saying.

There it is. You have the answer.

Right. Every brand and even different models within a brand can be different enough to cause over a 1% change. A 10psi pressure delta on measured wheel can cause a 0.5% speed reading difference. Even front/rear tire weight distribution will change readings unless adjusted for.

Perhaps a Terrell rotation comes into play here.

I just came back from a slow ride. It felt slow ant it took a long time. Bike was steel. Blue.

I know a lot of variants affect the "real" speed, but whatever the difference may be, it pales in comparison to how fast/slow you "feel" on different bikes. I am just not sure what's the biggest contributor to this "feel". I can rationalize the carbon stiffness but it can't be just that making it "feels" so much faster that the steel/ti.

maybe you need to take into account the coriolis effect as well.

You associate certain feedback with speed and CF is giving you more of that feedback. That's pretty much all there is to it. If you can use the same wheelset on all three you can eliminate that variable.