Not true at all, unless -- perhaps -- you are well over 200 lb and carry heavy loads. I owned and rode a 60 c-c frame extensively -- my best level top tube size is 60 c-c -- and there was no more flex notiher 6- X 56 c-cceable than with an 18" mountain bike frame. And this frame was made from standard gauge, and not OS, tubes.
I currently have another 60 X 56 c-c frame being refurbished; this is also standard gauge, and it is *very* light: 5.9 lb for frame + fork + steel Campy headset; I *do not* expect to need a second top tube. I'm 175. And my best load carrier of all time, that happily and securely carried 40+ in back (on an 11 oz rack!) was made from standard gauge, lightweight 531 and was noticeably lighter than my 2003, 58 c-c Riv frame that weighed 7 lb for frame + fork and Ultegra headset. This frame was a 58 c-c, IIRC. For anyone under say 250 lb who does not carry camping loads, a second top tube is ornamental, not structural. Amen. Back when I lived in India and Pakistan and Kenya, you'd often see heavy duty models of the stereotypical rod brake roadster wtih a second top tube (and with heavy aftermarket fork braces), but these were bikes cheaply made from cheap, weak tubing that carried 100 lb loads of firewood or 200 lb loads of charcoal in gunny sacks, or a family of 4; even so, most Indian and Pakistani made r b roadsters have single top tubes. Upshot: they look cool, but their benefit is purely aesthetic. On Mon, Aug 3, 2020 at 8:19 PM S <sbl...@gmail.com> wrote: > Yes, the extra tube strengthens the frame. Otherwise you would be left > with a wobblier triangle and have to use thicker tubes and there goes at > least some of your weight savings. I think it's a good solution and looks > cool, so a double win. > > On Monday, August 3, 2020 at 11:42:08 AM UTC-7 Jason Fuller wrote: > >> I can imagine it's useful once you get into the 60cm range, since the >> average rider weight is going up while the structural triangulation of the >> frame is going down. But I can't deny that I love the totally unnecessary >> extra tube on the Hunq so who am I to judge. >> >> The "unnecessary tube" I want, and would put on a Riv custom if I ever >> got one, would be the lift handle from the Rosco's. I keep hoping for it on >> new models. >> >> On Monday, 3 August 2020 at 09:00:02 UTC-7 Patrick Moore wrote: >> >>> I don't want a second top tube on any bike I own because it would serve >>> no real purpose and add needless weight (and also, perhaps, rigidity where >>> I don't want it), but I do have to say that the curved second tube on those >>> Atlantises looks wonderful *as sculpture.* In fact, merely aesthetically, I >>> think that edition of the Atlantis is one of the prettiest bikes, if not >>> the prettiest bike that Rivendell has made. >>> >>> In other, and very unrelated news -- but I opened the window at the same >>> time as I opened the Blug window -- fenders are going road-mainstream: >>> >>> https://www.bikeradar.com/features/bikes-with-fender-mounts/ >>> >>> Patrick Moore, who would indeed install fenders on his Atlantis if he >>> had an Atlantis. >>> >>> -- >>> >>> ----------------------------------------------------------------------- >>> Patrick Moore >>> Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum >>> >>> -- > You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups > "RBW Owners Bunch" group. > To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an > email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. > To view this discussion on the web visit > https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/eca5c5da-6b50-4e9d-8f49-b67f5cf68363n%40googlegroups.com > <https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/eca5c5da-6b50-4e9d-8f49-b67f5cf68363n%40googlegroups.com?utm_medium=email&utm_source=footer> > . > -- ----------------------------------------------------------------------- Patrick Moore Alburquerque, Nuevo Mexico, Etats Unis d'Amerique, Orbis Terrarum -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/rbw-owners-bunch/CALuTfgt1QesASKxoFwKkC1LDy6L-rWstgoBW-yWq5_i1ZinGWA%40mail.gmail.com.
