In a message dated 6/1/02 10:46:34 AM Pacific Daylight Time, GandJFahey@aol.com writes:
<< spring helps a bike accelerate - but so does stiffness perhaps - confused? Yes - it is confusing. Its all about the right balance for each rider. Need spring but not too much.
Doesn't it take at least as much energy to "put the spring into the tube" as the amount of spring that is returned? In other words, there's no free lunch. No mystic source of energy that automatically bends the tubes into a tensed spring position, I think you have to supply the energy even if it springs back. ?? >>
Energy spent bending the frame is energy not spent making the wheels go
around. When the frame springs back, none of that energy goes into making the
wheels go around either. Frames that are too flexy "waste" energy. Stiffer
frames are more efficient. If they're too stiff they feel "dead" and aren't
really comfortable to ride. A frame is a spring. No spring maker uses HiTen,
they use spring steel because it's better.
Stevan Thomas
Alameda, CA