Well, materials science WAS my major, and Jan is right on the bean in my opinion. I have some bike experience to back it up as well, as my pre-riv bike was a fillet-brazed Schwinn that I bought new in 1971, and still have today. No difference in the ride that i can see. The one way a frame COULD get flexier, is if you get a fatigue crack growing in a highly stressed joint, that will increase compliance and ultimately fail completely. So, if you ever do seem to think your bike isn't as stiff as you remember, better do a thorough check of the frame.
The issue with leaf springs is that they operate very close to (and sometimes a bit past) the yield strength of the material, and over time and a few potholes you can permanently deform them. Steel bicycle frames don't operate anywhere near yield. Jim in Boulder On Thursday, March 15, 2012 11:25:53 AM UTC-6, William wrote: > > OK, that's not a direct quote. He didn't say that specifically, but in > today's blog post, Jan *does* debunk the notion that steel frames "go > soft" with use. They don't. You can't break in a steel bike and make it > get more flexible for comfort and planing, and you can't wear out a steel > frame in terms of stiffness. It doesn't get flexier with use. You might > break it with use, but you won't make it flexier. Good read and > uncontroversial for many of us, but definitely counter to the popular > notion in the cycling community in general. > > http://janheine.wordpress.com/2012/03/15/frames-going-soft/ > > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msg/rbw-owners-bunch/-/AsTAEQ4EBSkJ. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. To unsubscribe from this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. For more options, visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch?hl=en.
