Quote Originally Posted by mimitabby
... they said that the carbon gives you a lot less jolty bumpy ride. There were 3 of them there; and one mechanic said he had a bike with a steel fork and it was a lot harsher than the carbon ones..
I descend some pretty gnarly, bumpy roads at 30 - 40 mph on an all steel bike, 23 mm tires, 100 psi.

It is not a harsh ride.

If you are looking for an all steel touring bike, the ride will be even less harsh, since you will probably have wider tires, more likely the 27 - 32 range.

V.

PS KY if you can save your pennies, the Rivendell Rambouillet is a great bike for doing lots of different things. I did my NS tour with it, just by changing wheels. I even did some single track with it, and lots of gravel/dirt roads.

Right now I have it set up for doing a double century so it's as light as I can get it. I know it's more money than you want to spend, but if you can only have one bike and lots of different ways you want to ride...it's quite versatile. AND pretty.