a thread about steel types prompted a post and this quote is snipped:

>"So, the issue is how to select a tube to get the ride characteristics
>desired - which in most cases resolve down to resilience/stiffness
>and weight."

i replied:
i have always felt that the materials discussions were trumped
up in a way to promote a "brand". when i was new, i was intimidated
by the issues because i don't come from academia nor do i have
any engineering history. once i got to a certain point i simply
ceased to buy into the brand thing or the shape thing or even
the heat treated thing. to wit, i never "knew" how to tune a ride
by picking a certain combo of pipes/pipe characteristics. i still don't.
98% (if i dare seperate it out) of my frames are/were built with the
lightest steel of a particular era that i was confident would last under
the rider. i haven't use a box-slash-prescribed tube "set" since about
1979, preferring to mix this top tube with that chainstay, etcetera.
for the recent 7 or so years, that 98% material has been dedacciai zero
but with zero uno chainstays some of the time, and double tapered
seatstays in 2 different diameters all of the time. all my forks have
single guage threadless steerers from reynolds. having recently finished
8 cross frames for the team, i used some columbus fork blades and main
tubes in them as part of a sponsorship deal.

hey - it's not about the bike. it's about the bike maker!
e-RICHIE