Warren Young (big guy who likes em stiff...) writes:
>
> I think big guys like stiffer frames . Yes Kelly was a bigger
> rider but he was a bit of an enigma in the peloton anyway.
Miguel "Big Mig" Indurain liked those TVT carbon "Pinarello" frames which were quite flexible. Andy Hampsten was riding relatively heavy steel Eddy M. frames and thinking he was at a disadvantage on the climbs, but said nothing was scarier on the descents than the TVT. Greg Lemond won the Worlds on one, later tested by Buycycling magazine. They proclaimed it the most flexible frame they'd ever tested. He beat Sean Kelly in the sprint that day.
I built track sprint and road frames for Ken Carpenter, several-times national sprint champion, an absolutely huge man (his road frame was 70 cm IIRC). He told Masi USA (Kirkbride) to build the stiffest frame possible, but it wasn't stiff enough for him. Then he had Serotta try it - still not stiff enough. The frames I built him made him smile - FINALLY a frame with no give! He won Natz three or four times on that track frame. The last couple times, due to sponsorship agreement, it was painted to look like Titanium, with Merlin decals!! I also built quite stiff match sprint frames for several other national champs, Olympic team members, and Masters World Cup champs. Paul Swift had come in second to Ken C. a couple of times when he came to us and said "make me one just as stiff as Ken's". He had it painted with a fade - from silver to gold - get it? He did eventually beat Ken to become Natz champ.
I mention all of this just to point out that I'm *not* saying flexible=good. Sometimes extreme stiffness is called for, though mostly in the match sprint and events like it. What Cipolini does, winning sprints in flat road races and quitting when the race gets near the hills, is not very different from the track except for a longer warm up and a lead-out train. Even with the sprinters though, I wonder if the reason they "need" that much stiffness is mostly in their heads. Sprinting is such a "psych-out" game, they really need every psychological advantage. ______________________________________
Richard Sachs added some good perspective this morning - he's right that too much analysis is not good if enjoying the ride is our goal. I got kinda stuck in this rut of debating efficiency losses in bike frames, which I think we'll all agree are pretty insignificant in the grand scheme of things. I'll try harder to stay on-topic, starting now ;^)
Mark Bulgier
Seattle, Wa
USA