The Search for a Carbon Bike that Feels like a Metal Bike

[RyanH]

I've had a lot of bikes over the last 6 years or so but one of my first was a Ti bike and since then, it's been my preferred material. Part of the reason I've had so many bikes is because I want to see if carbon is there yet in replicating the feel of a good metal bike and usually I'm disappointed. For me, there are two aspects of a good metal bike that carbon seems to struggle to replicate: springiness/liveliness when pedaling and smoothness, particularly felt through the feet.

My current bike I'm dabbling with is the new 2022 Crux which I have setup in road mode. It's a stellar bike and probably the best descending bike I've ever had. It has that liveliness when pedaling but I keep getting the sense that I'm more beat up after a long ride on that bike than my Litespeed. The two bikes have the same contact points (same bars, saddle) and the Crux has an advantage since it's running 29.5mm actual (28 label) Turbo Cottons while the Litespeed has size 25 Turbo Cottons (27.5 measured).

The thing I noticed last weekend is that over rough tarmac, while the Crux does a good job muting jarring hits in the rear (butt) and front (hands), my feet physically hurt when the impacts come. This adds up over the course of a 60 mile ride and I just feel beat up at the end. I think it's taken me all this time to realize this but it's that jarring through the feet that keeps me going back to Ti. I paid attention to how the Litespeed reacts over broken pavement since then and the impacts feel muted, none of them result in pain in the feet. My hands or ass will feel a sharp pain from a sudden jolt but the feedback through the pedals is always significantly reduced.

My question to you all that ride metal bikes, do you know what I'm talking about and have you ridden any carbon bikes that do have that smoothness?

For those curious why I'm asking or even trying to go away from Ti if I like it so much, the short answer is that I want a new bike that descends like the Crux, is disc and sub 6.8kg. It'll be a tall task getting a metal disc bike light whereas an Aethos is literally half the weight of a Ti disc frame and could possibly check all those boxes.