You just said that Red is equivalent to 105. Have you no shame?

No. Don't throw your other bikes away. Just keep one or two of the others and use them as rainy-day-beater bikes. You have my permission to sell any others.

One of my Bianchi's has a Reynolds 631 frame and 105 components. Very comfy ride. Trade-offs: it's a touch heavier than I'd like and the BB area flexes a bit when I'm out of the saddle (I'm over 200#).

Go Ti.

I am sure if we heave together we could push it over the cliff before the end of page 2.

Did not, either!...Only when the $200 price difference is taken into account. Also, there's some question about comparative ride quality. I'm being conservative, when I say, "equivalent".

- Slim

Hey, I thought that was the new trend. Steel fixies. High end chromoly road and Titanium bikes. Carbon is slowly climbing the ladder of respectability. I love carbon! I'm currently considering the Trek Madone 6.9...

You're being flat out biased towards Jamis and factually incorrect.

It normally costs a whole ton more than $200 to move from 105 to Red. It would not be inaccurate to say $1,500 more.

I don't think there is any doubt whatsoever that Red is better by any measure. Weight, performance, and so on.

Don't bet with LC - he'll just abuse his power to take the kitty.

For the love of God, can't someone make a carbon frame sticky so people that can't figure out what they want or need can have the decision made for them? Pick a bike from research (google), buy it based on your budget and then ride it. It isn't rocket science.

However, there's the big unknown X factor when it come to ride quality. For all I know the Inferno may ride like crap! Wouldn't be the first so-called, overated bike that rode like a POS, even though it had shinning components.
Hey, listen! What's on paper can be miles away from reality.....

For example
Well, Mr. ColinL, we're all impressed with your resume, now let's see how well you do today with the interview.

Most entry-level people who have impressive resumes, flunk during the interviews.

Just Say'N, that Inferno has to pass the interview, before it gets anymore stars from me!

- Slim

All of my LBS laughed when I asked them if they sold Chinarellos. I thought it was a legitimate question. Did I pronounce it incorrectly?

Ok, I'm sorry, I take it back, there is a lot of trolling on this forum and this is a standard troll-topic. Carry on.

cervelo \thread

trek\

Even funnier

It's too high end for your LBS. That's why they laughed

Calfee makes a crash tollerant frame. I see 20 year old Calfee selling on Ebay all the time. Calfee has a white paper on their that explains how a durable carbon frame is made. Also, other manufacturers send broken frames to Calfee for repair, so Calfee has a lot of experience with what causes frame failure.

Hey, how come you can say kitty but you can't say ***** cat??

OP, don't forget to ask them about the frame warranty!!

That should cinch the deal.

Good idea - the warranty is probably the most reliable indicator of quality and durability.

Probably- this is like the fifth thread in a week asking if carbon fiber frames shatter

YES! There was a thread about this recently, but I can't link to it anymore....I wonder why??

Beat me to it!
I have one of Carl's steel frames, and I wouldn't hesitate to ride the crap out of one of his carbon frames.

edit: Ah, I see the OP wants to spend ~$2k on his first road bike. Might not be ready for a Strong

...yet.

I've been eyeing Strong and Hampsten (and Strong builds some of their frames) for the next build. They're more reasonably priced than I thought they'd be.