Originally Posted by
Piff
I don't want to split hairs too much, but I think what you meant is stronger rather than stiffer? From what I understand how it works is that the extra strength of fancy tubing allows for thinner walls and lighter frames, but with less stiffness since the tubing is thinner.
Well the 853 frames I've had flex significantly less than my 531s have. They don't necessarily draw the tubing so thin that you end up with the same stiffness at the end of the day. Depends on frame angles and tube lengths and standard vs OS and all kinds of other things too, but that's been my experience in general.
853 is supposed to have much greater tensile strength than 531 but generally you only save about 10% of the frame weight with the thinner tubes. The rest of that strength difference accounts for an increase in stiffness (assuming the frame is designed to accentuate that strength).
As the Reynolds website advertises:
"
This heat-treated version of 631 is the pinnacle of Reynolds ferrous steels.
It allows frame builders to make very strong, stiff frames with a low frame weight
It can be used in a pure 853 frame to produce a very stiff, light frame with excellent performance for a pure road bike."
853 Steel - Seamless Air-Hardening Heat-Treated Steel (reynoldstechnology.biz)