Originally Posted by
ptempel
OP, I don't think you could go wrong with either one. Just test ride both and get the one you like the most. The groupsets are Ultegra vs Dura-Ace. Not a huge difference. And the ALR could have as nice a ride as the Carbon SL 6. I have no experience with either. But I wouldn't pass up a good Aluminum frameset. How the frameset is built makes more of a difference than just the materials themselves. In other words, I think that steel, carbon and aluminum can be done well and there are many good examples of each out there.
Edit: @
zoom26, the Ridley I have is 10 years old and the Orca is even older. No problems with either so far and both are carbon. Both have taken their fair share of a beating. Not professional racing type of beating but a few crashes and a lot of miles. So, I think they both are examples of carbon done well. I wouldn't be scared of any material if its from a reputable builder.
Yeah, I'm pretty sure carbon is a pretty durable material but then again it is something that I am just not personally comfortable with given the though of. If I had the money and get the most expensive bike I could get, I would skip carbon and go to titanium. Again, this is just how I think of carbon as a material regardless of who the maker is. In GCN, they still showcase some the pro's competition carbon bikes from way before so I guess there is no question on carbon's reliability and durability especially when done right.