Steel bikes and plastic bikes do ride quite differently in my opinion. I’ve got a steel, an Aluminium and a full cabon bike at the moment. The steel one is a lugged Supercorsa, the Aluminium is an Racelight RC2 and the plactic one is a R3SL. They are all set up with pretty good kit. The Cinelli probably weighs in around 20.5 the RC2 at 16 and the R3SL around 15. The setup is kind of similar, in terms of where the wheels are, bars, saddle etc, crank length etc. I’d like to put my finger on what makes them all different in terms of how they ride, but it’s not easy to do.
I’d say that the R3SL is the most comfy bike on a long ride, as well as the quickest. it is only 6 lbs lighter than the Supercorsa, but is much more responsive, even if you are loaded down with 2 full water bottles and running the same wheelset.
The Supercorsa gives you a warm glow inside to look at, if you like that kind of thing. The RC2 is just a fantastic do anything road bike, light, fast, responsive. The frame is very stiff, in the front half. This is not a attribute to be ignored when picking a bike. I have had bikes (steel, titanium and Carbon) that have scared me silly when either decending or sprinting.
Basically i guess that you can’t really judge how a bike is going to ride by the material that it’s made from. With aluminium to some extent this is possible i guess, as they are on the whole going to be reasonably stiff. But i’ve have lightweight steel frames that have been hideously uncomfortable and carbon frames that have been like spongecake.
Ride before you buy.
