Because you will be in the saddle for extended periods, comfort plays a bigger role than it does for shorter races. I've seen more than a fair share of titanium bikes in those kinds of endurance races. They are only slightly heavier than carbon fiber, but generally absorb a bit more of the bumps than CF or aluminum. Steel absorbs even more than titanium, but is heavier than any of the other materials and with that much climbing it is going to make a significant difference in your finish time.

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The more people I encounter the more I love my cats.

 Can you take both and rotate depending on terrain?

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Formerly DrD

Mercy you are soloing? Wow man. Godspeed. My husband is doing it in a team of 4. They are looking at essentially demo-ing Ventum road bikes through their coach connection but my hubs is definitely taking his gravel bike with the road wheels as it proved itself in Iceland (Cyclothon 2019), where they sort of mini-RAAM rehearsed.

I will be taking my P5 as well. I think that switching off between bikes will be beneficial. I will be tweaking my P5 as to be not quite as aggressive as it currently is. I just wonder if a different road bike would be more appropriate for such a long ride. Maybe something more for long cruising, maybe a little "aeroer" for that many miles. Maybe I'm just over thinking this and putting some clip on bars onto it would be just fine. It's a nice bike, I just wonder if there's a better tool for the job.

You might want to check out English cycles. The guy makes incredible bikes. Super light weight. Steel frames that will soak up some of the road and still get you over the mountains. I have no idea what his build out time is now. He makes gorgeous bikes though...and seems to know a bit about endurance racing events.

I think your Tarmac is an excellent choice paired with a P5 TT for the flat parts. I'll see you on the start line next June :D

First bike that comes to mind to me for a trip like that is the new Trek Domane SLR. With dual Isospeed + clearance for tires up to 38c , it ought to be one cushy ride.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

From an interview with Strasser:

PEZ: Tell us about your RAAM bike.
I use three in the race, all Specialized. For climbing I use the Tarmac which is light and responsive. On the flat sections I use the Shiv time trial machine and on the downhills and rough sections, especially if it’s raining, I use the Roubaix with disc brakes. We change bikes when we think it’s necessary. The Roubaix has 28 mil. Specialized tubeless tires, they’re very comfortable and we had no flat tires. We ran 26 mil. Specialized clinchers on the Roubaix and Shiv but with self sealing compound in the inner tubes. We only had three flats the whole way - which is good because wheel changes break your rhythm. I have a mechanic with me as one of my 11 man support team, when I have my one hour sleep each night he gives the bike a full check - tyre pressures, lubrication. . . The roads are very bad in the US with glass, dirt and lumps of truck tyre rubber - European roads are much better.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
Depression, Neurocognitive problems, Dementias (Testing and Evaluation), Trauma and PTSD, Traumatic Brain Injury (TBI)

Thank you for this. I am trying to absorb as much information as I can about RAAM. I missed that. This is exactly the type of info I was seeking.

I agree with others. Your two bikes sound fine. You already know you’re comfortable on them for long distances.