as I progressed through my bikes from cheap gas pipe to Cro mo, to 531, to alloy Bianchis, then carbon
Ribble New Sportive Racing...it makes little difference to the speed you'll achieve with the same input from you, but each one felt successively better than the last, more comfortable, easier to extend mileages on, smoother.
Some will say this is all in the mind, it may be, it may not...but I saw positive value in each step in materials.
That said, the 531 was supremely smooth, partly due to old style rake in the forks which absorbs a lot of road buzz.
Equally, the CF forks on my Ribble were acknowledged in reviews as less than perfect., a bit flexy..but I guess unless you're really pushing the boundaries, its maybe a compromise is thats acceptable.
The frame on my first Bianchi was so flexy under load it eventually cracked the frame.
The frame on my CF Ribble seems remarkably stiff and solid to me.
Trade offs, each one has positives and negatives, I thoroughly enjoyed owning my CF Ribble and found it strong and durable.
