Originally Posted by
softreset
I'll second this. I did a "season" of gravel/off-road credit card touring and when I'd encounter some rough stuff it was miserable. Heck even extensive road riding on some of the brutal Sonoma chipseal was unpleasant. This was on a 2016 Crockett.
I replaced it with a Steel Niner RLT and noticed an immediate difference on the same courses. Sure the gnarly stuff still jarred no matter what the frame but it was much more enjoyable on the little stuff.
That being said, I just added an SL5 Checkpoint (due later this month) so we'll see how that compares. I haven't owned a Carbon bike in 5-years but I'm not going to wait for Trek to do a steel Checkpoint.
Many people will make claims in frame material, or tire size for taking the edge off.
yet my alloy synpase on 25c 85/90 psi was more comfortable than the alloy Trek on 40c at 50 psi. both aluminum, and the bigger tires didn't help the Trek
so there is something to be said for geometry and manufacture also.
hmm come to think of it...... the bike effects the saddle too. even my favorite saddles donn't work on the Trek.