My point was that a frame with excessive flex would have less stable and less predictable handling and might be harder to keeep upright in unfavorable road condition. I feel less confident of the Teledyne's handling on the gravel roads in this area because it has noticeably greater frame flex. I suspect the Speedwell, with what appear to be smaller OD tubes than the Titan, would probably have even more flex. While one wants some absorption of shock on rough roads, I'd think a large amount of lateral flex in a frame woud make it more difficult to control on rough or wet roads.
Regards,
Jerry Moos
> I thought at first you were kidding about "Speedwell's" instablity causing
> Ocana to crash in the 1971 TdF, but now I realize you're serious! That's
a
> bit like saying "Raleigh 753 frames" must be unstable because Jan Raas
> crashed descending the Poggio, or Cannondale has a problem at high speed
> because Cipo's leadout man crashed in a sprint. LOL!
>
> Accounts I've read about that disasterous Stage 14 mention water flowing
> down the Col de Mente was sometimes 6" deep or deeper, leaving brakes
> hydroplaning and useless. Riders were sliding downhill on their shoes,
> stradling their top tube, in an attempt to maintain balance. Ocana "was
> without brakes". The section where he crashed is EXTREMELY STEEP, as you
> can see in the video. (It may have been Joop Zoetemelk who crashed into
> Ocana... I can't remember, but will look it up tonight.)
>
> Jose-Manuel Fuente won that stage, 6'21" ahead of Merckx.
>
> There's a good shot of Ocana in agony after the impact at:
> http://www.step.es/
>
> Note that he is in the Yellow Jersey - he was leading Merckx by 7'23" at
the
> beginning of the day, with three mountain stages remaining.
>
> There's more on the Spanish-language page dedicated to him with other good
> pictures at:
> http://www.step.es/
>
> Merckx was lucky to make it through that turn. Seems to me he DID crash
one
> turn earlier, or perhaps one turn later.
>
> Luis Ocana went on to win TdF in 1973, a race which Merckx missed.
>
> Aldo Ross
> sunny, but 45+ MPH winds in Excello, Ohio
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Jerry & Liz Moos <moos@penn.com>
> To: <chuckschmidt@earthlink.net>
> Cc: Moos, Jerry <jmoos@urc.com>; <classicrendezvous@bikelist.org>
> Sent: Wednesday, April 11, 2001 10:34 PM
> Subject: Re: [CR]Teledyne questions and appeal
>
>
> > It is one of those points that will always be debated. Perhaps the
> Speedwell
> > was a bit less stable. Probably Merckx was a bit more skilled, and
almost
> > certainly he was more focused and determined to win - they didn't call
him
> "the
> > Cannibal" for nothing. BTW, was this crash in a Tour after Ocana had
won
> the
> > Tour, or did he come back from the crash to win the Tour afterwards?
> >
> > Regards,
> >
> > Jerry Moos