My new ride...

Well, I finally upgraded my ride.  I scraped together all my pennies and splashed out for a 2013 Connondale Synapse Carbon 3 with full Ultegra components. 

Here is a photo of my new baby:

 

 

And by contrast, here's my old bike (now fully kitted out as a commuter):

 

 

I've read some posts where people upgraded to a carbon fiber bike and didn't pick up any speed.  Fortunately, that did not happen for me.  My cruising speed has increased on the new bike by about 3 mph, and I've blown away every Strava segment I've recorded.  This includes a top 3 time on a segment that's been ridden well over 1000 times.  Hooray me!