Originally Posted by
AnkleWork
If it's so clear, then it must be easy to show, and easy to measure.
Not necessarily. A bicycle is clearly gravitationally attracted to its rider, but if someone wasn't convinced of the existence of gravity, it would be quite difficult to use a bicycle to demonstrate this to them.
Where is the mechanism for flexural energy loss in a steel or aluminum metallic frame, or a covalent carbon frame? Please advise.
Elastic damping. When you flex these materials, some energy is lost to heat. When a real-world spring is released, it doesn't let out quite as much energy as was used to compress it.