I love steel over alum any day and I haven't ridden carbon yet. My ole Peugeot is steel and it is such a sweet ride on the road. I now have a vintage Trek Alum and it was like riding a car with bad shocks! LOLOL I'm getting used to it but I sure do love steel.

As a foot note: I would take a Luna anyday coz A) she lives/works in Santa Fe which is all of 55 miles from me and B) she's a ....well a she! LOL......as for the tires, I can't help ya there much since all 4 of my bikes have different size tires so I just don't think about it.