Properties of Aluminum and Carbon Frames?

[Veronica]

I have both a steel bike and a carbon fiber bike. I honestly don't believe one has a comfort advantage over the other. My carbon fiber bike is truly a race bike and is much faster, not just because of the material but also because of the way it's shaped. It's what I ride most of the time.

My steel bike is fairly light, just under twenty pounds. It's the bike I take touring or on a self supported out in the middle of nowhere ride.

Veronica

[Owlie]

Aluminum is light and cheap, but since it doesn't flex like carbon or steel (it's a property of the material), every bump will be transferred to you. Even with a carbon fork. Higher quality aluminum tubing may be less susceptible to this--DBF says that when he switched from an OCR3 (the old version of Giant's Defy) to his Cannondale R2000, the quality of the ride improved a lot. My next bike will be either carbon or steel.

Do what Indy says and get the bike checked out if it feels that wobbly on descents. That's not a frame material problem. That's either you (you're not used to going that fast), or a problem that really does need to be checked!