i started on entry level alu bike + sora (7 or 8 speed cant remember). wrong frame size, too big jibai.
second bike carbon frame but not so big brand + ultegra. still wrong size.
third n current bike, sworks + dura ace. perfection.
what i can say about the groupsets, that old ultegra was the best. buttery smooth shifting. coz the cables from the shifters were external. no tight bends. the DA was the first gen of internal cable routing like campagnolo. not as smooth to shift. and upgrading to 10s allowed smaller ratio gap. that syok. sora less cogs, bigger ratio gap. group ride tak syok.
about the frame, that alu bike harsh ride la. try long distance on a harsh ride. i tukar carbon, it absorbed road buzz. better comfort, so can ride longer distance less pain.
china frame, dont generalize la. got many grades punya. he thinks semua manufacturers/brands have the same manufacturing processes and product quality control?
tell u something la. a coupla days back i borak dgn my friend. lets just say he got repair or do maintenance or install stuff for various people on various bikes. he say, some cheapo brands punya frame, the bb so longgar he could push in the bb without using tools. so... can do that on sworks?