From time to time on the Desert Hipster Web site a reader will get out of line and criticizes them:
As all the time, he was roundly scolded and mocked for his heterodoxy, and that was that. After all completely different tubing produces completely different trip high quality, and naturally the reviewers over on the Desert Hipster Web site have the finely-tuned scranuses which are capable of discern it. Anybody who feels otherwise is a bitter curmudgeon, case closed, the top.
I, nonetheless, assume they’re each flawed, or not less than not fully proper. Within the case of the commenter, I do know he’s flawed for 2 causes. This:
And this:
Definitely the commenter’s proper in that you just’re not going to really feel any vertical flex sitting on high of a triangle. Nonetheless, the Teledyne Titan (made earlier than they actually found out easy methods to construct bikes correctly out of titanium) flexed clearly and disconcertingly in just about each different course. Little doubt lots of this needed to do with the fork, additionally titanium, which you could possibly see deflecting like somebody whose identify has been discovered within the Epstein flight logs, however judging from the chain rub the body flexed loads too. Some bikes you assume perhaps you’re feeling some flex or some dampening taking place, however you’re not likely even positive should you’re feeling it, or in that case the place it’s coming from:
However with the Teledyne Titan there was little question, and it felt virtually comically sproingy.
As for the Y-Foil, it completely flexes vertically and dampens vibration. Granted, that’s not precisely a good instance, because it’s not a conventional diamond body. Nonetheless, that bike’s 27 years outdated, so it’s not precisely loopy to assume that within the ensuing years they’ve found out easy methods to make UCI-compliant crabon frames which are flexy in a single course and never the opposite. Is it significant or discernible once you’re simply sitting on the bike and rolling alongside a flat floor? In all probability not. They usually nonetheless arrive at it by trickery, like elastomers and notches beneath the seatpost and stuff. However once you think about all the assorted permutations and undulations of driving a racing bicycle (sprinting, climbing, diving into turns at velocity, rocking the bike forwards and backwards), little question the fabric and the way it’s utilized is likely one of the issues that informs the way in which the bike goes to really feel.
So primarily based on the above, I’d agree the commenter is inaccurate. BUT. These are excessive examples. No one within the enterprise of promoting bikes right this moment–whether or not it’s Large, or some non-binary custom-builder-of-the-moment in Portland–goes to construct a motorcycle that behaves like that Teledyne. Fairly, they’re all going to fall inside a sure vary of what’s adequately sturdy and adequately gentle. So the query then turns into whether or not you can’t solely discern the precise trip high quality of the tubing, because the Desert Hipster Web site reviewer claims (the remark on the high of this put up was in response to a assessment of a sure Ritchey body), but in addition achieve this by means of the handlebars and the saddle and the tires and all that different stuff–in an age during which no influencer can be caught lifeless on tires narrower than 35mm, no much less.
And I’m going to go forward and say which you can’t. (Or not less than that the diploma to which you’ll might be significantly exaggerated.)
After all, with the intention to actually know for positive you’d want do to a blind take a look at with a number of bikes which are comprised of completely different tubing however are in any other case equivalent–which, as most individuals know, somebody did:
And right here was the end result:
And that was on tires no wider than your thumb that have been in all probability inflated to 120psi.
Given this, is it humanly potential to match the tubing on this bike…
…and this bike?
They sound completely different after I flick them with my fingernail. Folks on the Web will say stuff like “Rivendell’s frames are [x] and Waterford’s frames are [y].” However is one actually smoother or is the opposite stiffer? Are you freaking kidding me? The stuff you really feel instantly are the the tires (by far probably the most rapid), and the variations between the saddles, and the way in which the controls really feel in your fingers:
And sure, there’s definitely a distinction in stifness between completely different handlebars and stems:
And naturally these two bikes are completely different sufficient it phrases of geometry and match that they trip otherwise:
Do they trip shockingly, mind-blowingly otherwise? They don’t. I believe if most of us with a number of bikes are being sincere, once we swap from one bike to a different, the variations are extraordinarily pronounced for about 5 minutes, then we simply get used to it and neglect all about it:
However they’re completely different–most noticeably in match, tire clearance, wheelbase, and aesthetic end. And by extension, they’re completely different by way of how one can set them up, which is what’s most necessary. However of all of the variations I can discern, it will be an actual stretch to attribute any of them to the tubing.
Similar goes for this bike…
And this bike:
I’m fairly positive they’re each comprised of completely different units of Columbus tubing, and I’m completely positive that I can’t inform the distinction in trip high quality between these two units of tubing. I can inform the 2 bikes are sized otherwise and are geared otherwise, however by far probably the most dramatic transformation in trip high quality occurred after I went from the unique tires on the Cervino to 30mm high-end Vittoria tubulars.
So positive, in excessive circumstances–resembling with the Teledyne–you’re undoubtedly feeling the body materials. Damon Rinard stated that whereas it could or is probably not potential for a body to be too stiff, it might probably definitely be too flexy:
Is it potential for a body to be too versatile? I consider it’s. Underneath a tough effort by the rider, a versatile body really permits the wheels to return out of airplane with respect to one another. You’ll be able to see it in any dash if you will get a view from the entrance or behind. All frames do that to some extent, however giant or highly effective riders might favor a stiffer body to reduce this impact.
And a too-flexible body may be laborious to deal with in some driving conditions. As an example, on high-speed descents and in corners, an excessively versatile body can weave round sufficient to turn into a handful to maintain beneath management. In different phrases, versatile frames may be scary! I as soon as learn a quote attributed to Andy Hampsten to the impact that the one factor scarier than descending on a TVT body was climbing with out one! A really versatile body may be disconcerting sufficient to trigger a rider to again off in some conditions the place a stiffer body would enable him to maintain up velocity.
By that logic, sure, I’m additionally ready to just accept it’s potential to strike a stability between flexy and too flexy, and even that one thing particular occurs when a body (whether or not by chance or as a result of it’s been constructed only for you) is “excellent.” Nevertheless it’s laborious to reconcile this with my expertise of most bikes feeling “excellent” as soon as I’ve taken the time to set them up the way in which I need them, and with the rapid adjustments that occur after I swap sure components, particularly tires–and the broader the tire will get, the more durable it’s to consider you’re feeling a lot if something from the body. (A lot much less the insane assertion that sq. taper spindles and titanium cranks scale back ankle fatigue and are conducive to “all-day driving consolation,” a declare made by the identical web site.) Is there a distinction between strolling on a picket ground and a concrete one? Sure. Is the distinction much less noticeable in a pair of ugly-ass Hokas? Sure. Is it not possible to note once you’re in mattress? Additionally sure–although should you’re humping particularly vigorously I wouldn’t rule it out fully. And I believe it’s the identical factor with body tubing.
Most significantly, it’s extremely foolhardy to rule out the psychological results bikes have on bike dorks. We’re like drunk bros at a strip membership round this stuff, and are usually in no psychological situation to objectively consider their attributes, least of all of the trip high quality of the tubing. I’ve been driving the Milwaukee for 10 years now, and other than tire adjustments, probably the most dramatic change I skilled in trip high quality was when it went from black…
…to crimson (or technically it’s copper):
I rode the factor for weeks straight after it got here again with its new end and I couldn’t consider it was the identical bike. Nevertheless it was very a lot the identical bike, and I didn’t even change the components. (Sure, the components are completely different within the two images, however they have been the identical earlier than and after the paint.)
I also have a secret bike none of you recognize about. (A woman has to have some secrets and techniques.) It’s made by somebody who’s Sort Of A Huge Deal:
Is it every part it’s cracked as much as be? Effectively…sure, sure it’s. Nevertheless it’s additionally not possible to neglect what you’re driving once you’re driving it, and to belief your emotions about it. It’s form of like hanging out with a star. Am I experiencing the particular person? Or am I experiencing my concept of the particular person? Am I having enjoyable? Or is what I’m actually having fun with the concept somebody may see me with this particular person?
It’s in all probability how Lance Armstrong felt when he frolicked with me:
He was so naive.
