Originally Posted by
gugie
The one thing that hasn't been well studied, if one were to believe it, is what Jan Heine calls "planing" - the ability of a frame to take the pedaling force and store it, like a spring, during the strongest part of the stroke and return it during the weakest part.
Count me among those that don't believe it. I've heard this theory for decades and still cannot imagine how this energy is being returned. I'm inclined to think that energy used bending the frame is simply lost. Of course I could be wrong. A study would be interesting and without it it's rather difficult to prove one way or another.