In a message dated 6/7/02 8:27:51 AM Pacific Daylight Time, goodrichbikes@netzero.net writes:
<< My rather unscientific mind thinks the
only way to know if a person can feel the difference is to compare two
identical frames except for the seat stays. >>
Exactly, and I'm not guaranteeing that even I could feel it depending on
frame sizes and gauge used. My objection was to the blanket statement that's
it's (100%) marketing hype. There could indeed be a great deal of marketing
hype, but, as in my "case", it depends.
<<Phil Brown earlier stated that he had done the above experiment and
concluded that he couldn't feel a difference. >>
It would be easier to draw a conclusion from this knowing the gauges. If they
were 1mm stays, I'd have to agree it would be a hypothetical rather than a
practical effect. That said, if one was trying to build in a certain amount
of "spring" there's a certain risk that something else would get compromised
as it would likely only produce the result with the lightest possible tubes
and that may change with frame size. My guess is that trial and error
engineering would require several frames be built, starting with the thinnest
possible tubes, evaluating that one, and progressing to slightly heavier
tubes to see at what point the effect disappeared, for each size frame.
If I was committed to the bent stay idea and wanted to build a "brand" around
it, it would make sense to go to the considerable effort to figure all this
out. Frankly, I'm with you. I like straight stays. The first really cool
bikes that made an early impression on me were late 50s early 60s Italian
racers (Frejus, Bianchi, Ideor, Olmo Ghiradengo), followed by 1970 Colnagos
(thank you Peter Rich) and the Albert Eisentraut's I saw at the races. Clean,
simple, race bikes. The bikes I've built have been along those lines.
Phil and I are both in Northern California and I look forward to meeting him
someday.
Stevan Thomas
Alameda, CA