Quote:
Originally Posted by benb
Also stuff like the features in a Specialized Roubaix or a Trek with the ISOSpeed beams... those all really break the rules around these kind of frame debates.
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Absolutely. Specialized used to have their Zertz elastomer inserts imbedded in frames, but these mostly a joke. In order for the Zertz to absorb shock, the frame would have to flex enough to squish the Zertz. But the frame is so rigid that the Zertz inserts could never be compressed enough to absorb anything. Image a car suspension with a coil spring and a shock absorber in parallel. Now replace the spring with a solid rigid cylinder. Do you think that the shock absorber would be absorber much shock, now that it could no longer be compressed? That's kind of like how the Zertz inserts were.
Some bike manufacturers are finally now giving up on the charade that standard diamond frames provide any meaningful compliance and comfort, and when compliance is desired, are now building in pivots and "spring" members to provide meaningful deflections.