[ljf]

Very true - but a great seat post and saddle can help - I stuck a carbon seat post on my alu bike and it was amazing, and even on my full carbon I moved to a carbon seatpost and carbon (unpadded) saddle - soaks up the vibration even though I have the tires at 100psi. People often comment on the lack of padding on the saddle, but with a nice pair of bib shorts it is fine. And 250g for the seatpost and saddle ;)

To clarify - vibration that it best dulls is 'road buzz' which you can really get on a alu bike, esp with high pressure tires. A carbon seatpost and seat can be as little as £50 for both - I got my seat post from wiggle and seat from china - happy with both - and recommend to all my friends.

Yes this will have little impact on 'bumps' - though the saddle def soaks some of them up.

I posted this to refute that 'only' tires have an impact on ride - frame, wheels, seat post, saddle, bars and bar padding, shorts etc can all have a positive impact on ride - and allow you to ride at a high tire pressure and get all the benefit of lower rolling resistance.