My first road bike was a Cannondale R600 WSD. The aluminum was a bumpy and uncomfortable ride. The lower end components gave me a lot of trouble, especially shifting. I never could get it into the big ring. I've owned 2 all carbon bikes since then and although you can't control what happens sometimes, I have had no issues with damage. I've had 2 crashes and nothing was damaged in either. My husband did snap his fork (on one side only, thankfully) when he crashed into a squirrel, descending at about 40 mph on a carbon bike. But since most aluminum bikes have carbon forks, that might have happened on any bike. I would go for the most bike for the $ and forgo some of the accessories, as others have stated. And hold off buying the aero bars. I know a lot of people who do tris and they don't have them.