Originally Posted by
exime
I was considering a new steel bike with a carbon fork but now ya'll think that the new aluminum is better than steel, even 853? Good to know. At least I have another couple months to decide before the season turns.
But lets not forget that Aluminum has by far the worst fatigue life out of all these bikes so you're purchasing a ticking time bomb while steel will be as good as it was 10 years ago. I guess many hobbyists like to n+1 anyway so they don't care and you can unload it in 5 years on craigslist to someone who doesn't know or cares that Aluminum fatigues and just wants an inexpensive used bike.
Or has the fatigue life improved too?
Just for the records: I don't think that aluminum is better than steel. I think it's different, so it might work better for you in some cases. For me, I would pick aluminum as a material for my training, winter, rain, race, cx bikes. The reason? Cheap, stiff and the ride quality is close to carbon.
If you want a bike for decades and really worry about fatigue life, steel/ti might be a better choice. But in that case you are going to pay at least 2-4x more. With lifetime guarantee on cannondale and specialized frames, I wouldn't worry about fatigue.