Does an expensive bike improve an amateur cyclists performance?
That's what Matt Haughey wanted to know. So he did some research to answer the question, "Does a $5,000 bike improve an amateur cyclist’s performance," by renting a Cervelo R3 for $300 a week. He shows the percentage of increase in speed/time over several distances, comparing against speed/time on his $1700 aluminum bike. On a 35 mile route, he shaved off 21 minutes, 13 seconds, a 15% difference over his performance on the aluminum bike.
In the end he was convinced enough to buy a Cervelo RS. I've sort of been afraid to try a high performance bike, after an office mate of mine bought a Titanium Seven and gushed over the difference in feel and performance. I've always been afraid that trying out one of those frames would make me cave and spend the dollars, but I so don't want to drop 4-5 grand on a bike. I'm sticking with my slow Seven steel. I love the feel, but man, a 15% increase in time would be awesome over 100 miles.