Anybody have the Flight?

Steel is, uh, authentic.

Aluminum is the most sensible material for full suspension bikes, but one has to work hard to make a comfortable road bike from it. Ellsworth may have succeeded in this, but their expertise is with dual suspension MTB's. Any ultralight aluminum frame will also have a relatively short lifetime. Having said all this, I've never ridden the Flite.

If you really want a reasonably priced road bike you can love for decades, look at a custom steel frame. It's great to be able to customize geometry, size and ride quality.

TiCycles in Seattle would be a good place to look local to you. Seven or Independent Fabrication, along with many smaller manufacturers would also be great choices. If you're thinking of building up a road bike from scratch, you would be doing yourself a disservice if you don't consider a custom frame.

After you've looked at all the possibilities, you may still end up picking the Flite, but you will be less likely to wonder if you made the right decision.

Good luck choosing!

I had an Ells Flight for over a year.

I had a '99 (I think) 105 equipped C-Dale R-800 (which I liked very much). During the time of my ownership of that bike I became interested in the Ells Flight. I ended up purchasing one with an Ultegra kit with Dura Ace hubs/ Mavic Open Pro Rims. Complete bike weighed 17lbs before adding pedals. Then I sold the C-Dale.

The Flight was very lightweight, super responsive, and FAST. In comparison to the Cannondale it was as stiff laterally (just as responsive if not a little more so), but was smoother riding on rough pavement, cobblestones, etc. than the 'Dale

I'm mostly into my mountain bikes though. After a while, I was using the road bike less and less, and recieved and offer for it from a friend, so I sold it. I will get another one sometime (dont know when), because I loved the bike and it's good to ride something different once in a while.