Originally Posted by
PromptCritical
Entertaining thread.
What is absent from my perspective is the concept that rider comfort (as in smoother riding not sitting in the sun drinking fruit margaritas) allows more power transfer when the road isn’t smooth.
No idea how to describe it in engineering terms, but my gravel bike is faster than my skinny tired road bike on rough roads.
I would say that concept is suspension, and a frame can be part of that.