Doug Van Cleve wrote:
>Can a modern (Keeper of the Flame) frameset be
>designed in the vein of Rigi, Flying Gate, Paris Galibier
>or whatever that would actually handle nicely but keep
>whatever attributes come from the super short
>chainstays? Obviously there is a rear weight bias that
>cannot be avoided, but otherwise? Maybe I have it
>wrong, but my impression is that these designs were
>mostly for novelty and didn't ride as well as
>normal designs. What do you think?
I think you are right, they don't ride as well. One problem I have heard about, but don't have too much experience with, is poor rear wheel tracking in a sprint - the wheel hops, actually skips sideways accross the pavement. I read about this somewhere in the last year, maybe some list members can recall this info?
Anyway, it shed some light on why the short, stiff frames I was building weren't an improvement for sprinting. But now I can't recall the actual mechanical process of the phenomenum. Anyone?
Dan Christopherson
Lopez Island WA