Originally Posted by rmfnla
FWIW, flutes are an engineering trick to make tubes stiffer while reducing weight.
A good example of this is match-grade rifle barrels (for them, the additional surface area of the flutes also facilitates cooling, not an issue for most riders).
Another $0.02 worth...
Air cooled seatpost
Awesome... now I have a good place to carry around spare uranium fuel rods with me.