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I have three road bikes, a steel framed one from the 80's an aluminium framed one from 2003 and a carbon framed one from 2013.
Other than being lighter and stiffer the newer bikes are basically the same design and for many good reasons.
Those very good reasons being in the UCI rulebook, rather than practical ones.
Still got my full sus 1964 Moulton and this Dahon:
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A small wheel bike can fairly fly along on a rough road with suspension, but they tend to pitch a bit under hard pedalling. The long wheelbase on the original Moultons helped avoid this.
I think suspension is redundant for large wheels on the road,. Grab a 29er ad use tyres like the 2.35" Big Apples I'm using on my Scandal:
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If you use back roads a lot, the Big Apples will swallow up almost anything and you don't have the penalty of carrying all the weight of suspension, or any pedal bob.
I don't know how people who ride for speed would get on with them, but it makes putting a 100 mile day in dead easy, or at least comfortable.