I posted this over on the +50 forum, 65-85+ thread, when we were asked why so many steel bike showed up on the "What do old people ride...?" and he asked seemingly incredulously are these everyday rides and why would you do that when carbon is so much better:
I religiously rotate through my collection; everyone of my bikes was hand-crafted by artisans with things like carefully brazed and tapered lugs, many thinned by craftsmen and craftswomen with files. This attention to detail and esthetics was paid to every stage of the build. I greatly value the components ease of repair and lack of planned obsolescence now present in the cycling industry. So when you say "better to ride" it is based on your set of well understood facts and personal beliefs, but for me "better" is influenced by my personal beliefs. Starting with a Trek 5500 in 1998 (still hanging up in my shop) I bought a new WIzzbang bike every few years only to let it go after a couple of years then stopped after four such bikes.