Heresy I know, but is carbon dull?

Good carbon isn't dull. You won't get it in a £1500 bike though, not even in a £1500 frame.

Personally I'm happy to ride any bike if it is has lively steering and feels stiff through the bottom bracket. That makes for antidull.

Comparing materials is all well and good but geometry plays an even more importAnt part. Compareing different styles of bikes and then saying it's the material that makes the difference is kind of stupid.
I own a 2015 cannondale supersix evo hi mod and recently had the pleasure of doing 150 miles on a caad12. Both were brilliant but the supersix is certainly more reactive especially when out of the saddle or going up hill. On the downhill the caad was more stable and predictable and I had more confidence it was going to hold it's line.
So let's be clear both of these bikes have identical geo and both have pro's and con's I would buy a caad and wouldn't feel I was missing much but that extra 5% mAkes the evo special and stupid expensive

Just buy which ever bike makes you smile...I pondered over a carbon bike a couple of years ago & rode a Cannondale Synapse, it was "very nice".  I bought a Van Nicholas titanium, cos I liked it more.  Occasionally, I'll pinch my son's CAAD10 - it's exceptional & very nice to ride if you're in the mood for hammering along.  As is normal, an Aluminium frame will leave you more $$ for a nice set of wheels...

My tuppence worth.

My good bike is a Wilier Gran Turismo with Campag and 38mm carbon wheels, despite being sportive orientated the geometry is firmly in the racier camp.

It's enjoyable to ride, handles wonderfully and certainly feels characterful, I love it.

I've also just picked up a Genesis Equilibrium to use as a winter bike, I've set it up the same as the Wilier but it has a steel frame and 27mm tyres. As my first steel road bike I wasnt sure what to expect but after only 500 miles, I love it. It rides differently from the Wilier and whilst subjectively it isn't as quick, it feels so nice to ride.

I've also got a decent amount of time on BMC frames, they are definitely what I'd descibe as dull, perfectly adequate but nothing that made me smile.

So much choice out there, good luck in your hunt. 

JC, to be fair, I think riding one carbon bike a bit around the environs of a shop and then saying 'carbon is dull' <heaps tinder at bottom of stake> is a bit hasty.

The worst race bike I've ever ridden was a columbus SL handbuilt italian frame supplied by my sponsor at the time. It was absolutely top of the heap, dura-ace, the works, and rode like a tank in sand. However, one of the most sublime frames I've ridden was a british custom built columbus SL frame borrowed from a team mate. As discussed in a thread last week "is all 6061-t6 aluminium equal?" it really comes down to the build. Having ridden a very large tube full alloy Cannondale (1988), it shouted "fun" at you as soon as you got on it. You shouted "assassin" at it when you got off after 80 miles. The response and handling was so quick, and it was so stiff, it would literally eject you from the seat when changing line at full noise in a crit corner. My current cannondale evo hi-mod is very boring... around a parking lot. But when at speed it is the most exciting thing I've ever ridden. The feel, the pointability, the sublime handling, the comfort are at a level I've never experienced from any other material (though a CAAD 12 comes pretty close).

Most carbon frames will feel pretty boring on a trip around an industrial estate, but 100 miles later you'll still be able to walk and smile. Personally I think for performance (power transfer, stiffness, responsiveness at a given weight) carbon is unbeaten. For comfort, handling and pizzazz, it comes down to the build, and you can get that from a good builder in any material. 

BTW, The bike that I simply  got the greatest thrill from owning and riding, ever, was a Diamondback Axis titanium MTB, again provided by a sponsor. I kept it at the end of the season and was devastated when it was stolen in a break-in a few years later. 

My front-line bike is a Cannondale SuperSix Evo HM. For putting in the road miles, it is hard to think of any bike that would feel better. On the other hand, for pure pleasure I usually take out the Cinelli Supercorsa, a steel bike that's been in continuous production for over 40 years (and will be until the clap of doom, it says on the website). Horses for courses mate!

It's only a flesh wound, come back here and ride!

No, it's never dull.

As you suggest, a tootle around an industrial estate probably won't do it. After getting the road bug in the last 4 or so years (after many years of commuting) I purchased steadily improved bikes in small incraments. Dawes Milk Race, Peugeot Alloy and then a Specialized Allez with Carbon forks and Sora 9 spd. Cycle to work scheme saw me buy a 'gravel' bike with Claris, discs and a bit heavier.

The summer bike on the whole was a tad quicker than the gravel but i could ignore pot holes and rag it a little; Strava suggests not too much difference. Having said that I remained excited when the sunshine made a brief appearance and I could hit the summer bike. I had no real intention of changing but redundancy led to a pot of cash that i didn't want to waste on a kitchen or paying off the mortgage, on the lookout for carbon i went...

A cannondale synapse full carbon with 105 was secured. Even the 8 miles to meet my club it was quicker, i even thought of sending it back as it seemed to be sodding off ahead of me and i was having to move my legs quicker to keep up. On a steep climb and out of the saddle it didn't feel like i was dragging the rear up the hill, it floated up and my presses on the pedals merely facilitated.

This weekend i had a trip on the gravel bike and all of a sudden it felt sluggish. The gap i anticipated between my previous 2 bikes wasn't really there, but now with the carbon it feels huge. Next day on the carbon I was settled on a 1 or 2% downhill tootling at 18mph and put some power down, jumped to 25mph in a couple of seconds. The inane grin on my face was probably the same as when pulling my first wheelie on my raleigh chopper!

Now i understand that the drive train, brakes et al have received an upgrade too, the whole package makes a difference. I just feel the carbon feels like I'm hovering on tge road surface rather than putting power into it. I also think that one or two sprints is merely the beginning, the additional ease will add up over a long ride and be even more beneficial...

It's all in the mind. 

Why would you rather not say what it was? Don't take this the wrong way, but I don't think you have that much clout to be able to affect a manufacturer's sales by saying you didn't like the 10 minute test ride you had on their mid level offering. 

Guys, sell your Specialized shares now, because I'm about to drop a bomb - the Allez Sprint rides like shit. 

Peted76 - You should try my 8 year old Condor Leggero. Huge mileage, plenty of other bikes ridden but it's by far the best I've tried, feels amazing.

I know what you mean, having 2x entry level carbon bikes and now a top flight carbon bike. I can feel a difference with the new one, BUT even my top end carbon frame is a little bit dull, you get on and it's like a lightweight rocket ship but there is no personalilty there. 

I think my 'next' road bike will be steel or Ti endurance type, I'd love one of Dom Mason Resolutions (steel) and I covet my mates Van Nicholas (Ti). I also keep thinking about Rourke for a custom frame.

There are loads of really good bike builders out there at the moment (apparently). Have you considered getting a frame and putting your old groupset/wheels on? For £1500 you could get a cracking steel frame! In fact for about a grand you could get a hand made Rourke and that'd be a bike for life http://www.rourke.biz/custom_framesets.php

I have exactly the same set-up including wheels on both my bikes. One is a carbon Giant TCR and the other is alumimium kinesis Aithien.
I agree that the Carbon bike is dull to ride, very dull, compared to the aluminium. The Carbon bike is the one i use for winter duties because of this.

It depends a lot on the frame. My good carbon frame is lovely to ride, my last one didn't feel as lively as the Alu frame it replaced.

If you compare an open mould carbon frame (amazing for the price but not much price) with a £5,000 + superbike you'll see the difference very easily.

It's actually one of the difficulties with carbon. There's only so many variations with round tubed metal frames, a carbon frame with identical geometry will vary a lot based on tube shape, thickness, layup, fibre density etc.

How can a bike be dull? How can you measure dullness? A dullometer?

What was the bike you test rode?

All my previous bikes have either been steel or aluminium. I thought that the aluminium with carbon forks that I had ridden over 80,000 miles on was the best for both comfort and liveliness. However 2 years ago I went for a full carbon "sportive"  jobby and it totally blew all previous notions out of the water. Carbon - once you have ridden it two or three times -is far superior both for handling and comfort. I bought a second  cheaper carbon frame (£500 Inc. post/clamp, b/b, headset and full carbon forks) this summer, with the intention of using it as a winter hack , and it is has turned out to be the best bike I've ever ridden.