[garphunkle]

I'm not sure if steel frames make a significant difference in comfort. If we measure comfort as deflection or vibration, then tire choice will have orders of magnitude more importance. When you have two springs in series, the combined spring constant is dominated by the weaker spring.

I race on a carbon frame with 30mm tires, and commute on a steel frame with 38mm tires for what it's worth.

Bike weight is irrelevant on flat roads. We should be obsessing over Watts/gram of drag, not Watts/kg if you're not a climber

[mnky9800n]

I think the difference between aluminium and steel is easier to feel than carbon to steel.