I had an entry level cannondale aluminum bike b4 I got this Chinese carbon frame. The cannondale weighs in at 9.6kg. This Chinese carbon bike 7.4kg. I ride with a usual group of 6 riders for a while now. we will go 4 night rides of between 40-70km on the same route. The loop consists of about 8 climbs. I was the only 1 on aluminium while the rest were on branded carbon bikes. There's a pinarello, a cipollini, a Ridley, cannondale evo and a parlee. On my aluminium bike I could keep up with the group 4 the first 20km or so. Then I will usually get dropped by the group. I would get dropped by sometimes about 1km or so. Now 1 km might not sound like much cos if u go at 30km/h it's like only 2 mins behind the group. But visually on the road it's like the group is so far in front of me I can't even see their blinking rear lights. It's as good as a solo ride by then.
With this china bike n riding with the same group on the same loop I hv seen massive improvements. From being dropped by a km or so, I'm not only able to keep up with them but also sprint with them to the finish. The bike accelerates easily, climbs like a goat. Took half the effort to maintain speed on the flats. (33-38km/h). Closing the gap on surges required so much less effort than my precious bike. Performance wise as good as any branded n expensive bike.
Absolutely worth it.