rosborn said:
I suppose a question that is just as important as geometry is aluminum vs. carbon. Can an aluminum bike be as comfortable as a carbon bike? Cervelo's website seems to make this assertion and spec's quote a rather nice S1 (formerly Soloist) with an aluminum frame and very nice components (Ultegra SL).
Rob
Sure, why not? This topic has been beaten to death, but here goes.
In brief:
Frame material is only one aspect of what gives any frame its ride qualities. Much more important are what is going on at the contact points between rider and bike: pedal-shoe interface (shoes themselves, floating or fixed cleats), handlebars (shape, reach , drop, type of handlebar tape), and saddle (shape), as well as shorts. But perhaps even more important by several orders of magnitude would be tire choice and tire pressure.
Then again, what exactly do you mean by "comfort"? It's a term that's bandied about by marketers, but has very little real, quantitative meaning.
FWIU, Almost any diamond-shaped frame that is properly constructed will, to a certain degree, feel the same: because there is no noticeable flex in the vertical dimension. Same goes for seatposts. So if by "comfort" you mean the ability to mute vibrations or shocks, I think that can only be accomplished by a suspension system of some type in the system (ie, sus forks, sus seatpost, lower psi wider tyres, etc). Generally speaking, none of those are found on road bikes...so your question about alu vs carbon is a moot point.
Sorry, no dice. But thank you for playing
