Quote Originally Posted by MarieV View Post
To be clear, my "heavy steel bike" is a Bianchi Vigorelli with Reynolds 631 and Ultegra/105 mix, so it weighs in around 20-21 lbs. It's not a tank like a Surly Cross-Check or LHT or Bianchi Volpe with Tiagra or lower-end components. In contrast, my carbon bike weighs about 16 lbs. Granted my carbon bike has upgraded wheels and a Campy Chorus groupset, but any stock carbon bike in your size should weigh about 17-18 lbs if it has an Ultegra/105 groupset. Once you start doing longer test rides involving climbs, you should totally feel the difference between a carbon bike and your Dolce.
Wow, a 21-pound bike sounds really light to me (says the person who rides a fully racked and fendered Surly LHT, usually with a handlebar bag on to boot, for almost all of her riding)! Does 2-4 pounds (your steel bike vs. a carbon bike) really make THAT much of a difference in speed? I average 12-14 mph on my Surly...it'd be interesting to see what would happen if I got on a carbon bike.