At 9:59 PM +0200 5/15/08, Richard Timm wrote:
>Hi Jerry,
>
>> the 25.0 seatposts on Vitus and ALAN bikes. More than one way to
>> achieve the necessary stiffness.
>
>Older Alan and Vitus frames aren't very stiff. I own both and like riding it
>and in the past they were used by the pros with great success.
>
That leads to the question of what the "necessary stiffness" is. I think Jerry phrased it quite well - the bike should have the right amount of stiffness, not too much, not too little. How much is right? It probably depends on the rider.
Neither the bikes that Fausto Coppi rode nor the (off-topic) machines that took Lance Armstrong to victory were all that stiff, and the much-coveted bikes made from Reynolds 753 were real "noodles." Interestingly, the Cat. 2 and Cat. 3 racers in Washington who kept their steel bikes long after most riders switched to ti and carbon were on Reynolds 753 Raleighs... Noodle or not, these bikes seemed to work so well for strong riders that they resisted the lure of ti and carbon.
I know that the mantra among cyclists since at least the 1920s has been "stiffer is better", but racers' preferences show that this mantra is wrong.
Jan Heine
Editor
Bicycle Quarterly
140 Lakeside Ave #C
Seattle WA 98122
http://www.bikequarterly.com