Advice needed re Carbon Fiber vs Shocks I am an occasional rider who bought my last bike 15 years ago (an all-aluminium Saracen with shocks). I've put about 400-500 miles this year and am thinking of taking up one of the Cycle to Work schemes to get a new bike. 

So I remember when I went from my steel, fully-rigid Diamond Back, to my Saracen. "Wow!" is the only way I remember the luxury of getting shocks. I plan to do 20 miles a day (90% road / 10% off-road) for commuting, and have been advised to get a carbon fibre cyclocross bike. But no cross bikes seem to have shocks, and, despite what I've been told, I just cannot believe that carbon frame &amp; forks can offer the same amount of shock absorbtion as shocks.

There's much BS floating around about the wonders of carbon fibre, and while I would like a light bike, by the time I've added lights, mudguards, and a trip computer for road use, saving a few ounces here and there seems a bit silly.

The gearing of the bike I am thinking of (Planet X XLS Shimano 105 Cyclocross) seems perfect, with a top gear of 46/11t on 700c wheels. My biggest complaint about my Saracen is the lack of a really long gear for the roads, but the lack of shocks on the Planet X really does worry me. As an aside, I am most definitely not Mr. Super-fit, being 5 1/2 decades young, and with the weight problems (85-90Kg) that go with being such a spring chicken.

So does anybody have some real empiric evidence that CF forks are as good as Shocks for the use I have in mind or is there just too much marketing BS out there to form a firm opinion ?

Any sound advice would be appreciated !
There's no frame material in the world that will absorb bumps like a bike with a suspension fork/frame. 

However, the original "suspension" invention that made bicycles practical was the pneumatic tire. If you have a rigid frame and fork, that's all the real suspension you have. 

Skinny road tires at high psi have about 2-3mm of "travel", a fat commuter tire at 60 psi will have close to 25mm of travel. A suspension fork generally has about 100mm of travel. 

A CX bike is a good choice to build a commuter around since they generally take fatter tires ( usually up to 32mm ), but there's absolutely no reason to get a carbon CX bike for commuting. Especially one that does not take a rack or have fender mounts. 

With fat tires at the correct PSI, I think you would have a very hard time distinguishing between different frame materials in a blind test. Geometry and tire size make so much more of a difference than what the frame is made of. 

To enjoy your commute, I'd recommend finding a balance in the middle. A bike with suspension is going to be heavy and slow and overkill 99% of the time. A "racy" carbon CX bike is going to be fast, but rough and the handling will be a bit twitchy. A good commuter should take fat tires(32mm at least), have a relatively long wheelbase and slacker angles. 

But you can commute on anything. You might just try putting slicks on the bike you already have and see how that works for you. If you are going to get a new bike, I'd really suggest looking at CX/commuter bikes with disk brakes.