Re: LBS, you should be ashamed.

On Wed, 03 Dec 2003 14:59:29 +0000, John Dacey wrote:

>>>The smaller triangle makes it stiffer, etc.  Last year they usually told
>>>me the standard was better.  Does anyone know the truth?
>>
>>Yes it is stiffer, but did it need to be stiffer than it was before? 
>>Probably not.
> 
> It is not clear to me that the compact frame will necessarily be stiffer.
> With a compact style, only the seatmast and seatstays are shorter, and
> their contribution to frame stiffness is generally regarded as verging on
> negligibility. From where does the extra stiffness you claim come?

It depends on how you measure it, and that shows the lie of this claim. 
If you measure frame deflection on a bare frame, that might be less
with a compact frame.  But if you build up 2 bikes and clamp on the seat
(same seat height) and bars, the compact-frame _bike_ will flex more since the
pivots (the welds) are closer together, so there is more leverage.

-- 

David L. Johnson

   __o   | Let's not escape into mathematics.  Let's stay with reality. -- 
 _`\(,_  | Michael Crichton  
(_)/ (_) |