Originally Posted by
duffer1960
Regardless, stiffness is important. I bought & sold a '70s vintage steel bike that was near the mfr's top of the line. It was light weight, but it was very flexy. When I was pedaling hard, felt like trying to push the thing through pudding. Might have been fine for a lightweight and less strong rider but I'm 200+ lbs. Some flex, especially in the fork, is helpful for reducing road harshness. Look for a Cr-Mo tapered fork, rather than a Hi-Ten fork.
Also, (not an expert here), are flexy bikes more prone to wobbles on fast descents than stiff bikes? Look into that if you envision going 30+ mph on descents.
Ive got a reynolds 531 framed bike and I find it far too flexy, and my weight gets as low as 120# around the middle of summer when im in serious riding phaze, I dont mind the frame flex so much its the flex in the fork that bothers me, anytime I get out of the saddle and im accelerating the brake pads will rub the rim whatever side im currently leaning on (and no its not the rim, its fine when I run it on other bikes), I really love the looks of the bike but im probably gonna strip it down and sell it, either that or maybe look into a different fork for it.
And yeah Ive heard high speed wobbles is usually a result of too much flex in the fork, its never something ive really exprienced, but descents around my parts don't really last that long anyway.