So I got to thinking about the other thread where they built up a bike with identical geometries and components but differing grades of steel.

What would happen if they did that the same way but with steel, titanium, aluminum, and carbon fibre. It would be hard to make a bike, I suppose, that looked exactly the same but I cannot get the idea out of my head.

Again, it seems like a lot of people are wising up to the fact that frame material might not make as much of a difference as we think/wish/feel it does...or at least that tires, etc, could make more of a difference than hi-ten and 953 for instance.

I'm guessing nobody would do this because it wouldn't really be a selling point when nobody could identify the material they were riding.

It's really hard to ride a bike with your eyes covered.

I thought the quotes would tip-toe me around the joke.

But I see not.

If this idea was done a long time ago (when bikes were more or less built with skinny tubes) it would be pretty easy to know what bike was made outta what, or you could at least pick out the steel one from the rest cause it was the only one that wasn't flexing all over the place when you rode it.

These days It would be pretty hard to pick em apart I think.

BSYNC's April Fools post dovetails very nicely with this thread.

"All a frame really needs to do is place your components where they need to be and not break. For this reason, the whole business of evaluating slightly different bicycles with slightly different combinations of components and attempting to discern those differences is mostly pointless."

Well, I have the same model bike, same size, one in CF/alloy lugs, one in steel lugged. They aren't even from the same planet, ride-wise.
So, here's my solution:

khatful gives me his CAAD9.
Scoper copies the geometry with a Cro-Mo and gives that to me.
We take up a collection, so Waterford can makie me a Ti duplicate,
I'll "make do" with just 3.

I'll use a blindfold and 3 seeing-eye women (for consistency, of course)
After at least a year of riding, I'll write a thread on the differences.

We can start anytime.

Sorry. It's been a slow day.

Keep thinking.
Materials drive design. What would be more significant, IMHO would be to articulate the a single purpose for the all bikes and have one frame builder do all of them in the different material for the same size (person) and the same components.
Why?
1. Materials drive design and the design is determined by the functional specifications.
2. Every frame builder designs their frames differently, by having one person do the building, the expectations is that the variability in philosophical approach to design and build would be somewhat consistent. Of course each frame builder probably has their bias, not to mention skill and experience. They probably prefer one material over another.
Then there is the rider and their skill and experience coloring the results.

Getting an objective assesment: nill.

Spoilsport! I'm thinking that the exercise would be at least something to talk about, to divert us from Healthcare/Global change/Toyota/blablabla
But unfortunately, you're absolutely correct.

^and you still did not answer the fundamental question

would you be able to tell them apart

I'm guessing the differences would be noticeable as the lighter bikes would feel different from the heavier ones. If they were all the same weight, the differences in ride quality would be subtle and if the tires were wide enough, very hard to discern at all.

And why would this matter to the OP or anyone else at all? If carbon fiber was truly the sweetest ride on earth, would you trade in your lugged steel classics and buy a new Giant?

If you are able to fling your finger on the frame and hear what they sound like, you will be able to tell them apart.

There are so many variations, on top of the frame material (like angles, for one) that can make a ride so much more different (add components to that and the equation multiplies...) . Still, even if you know the exact make of the frame, you would be able to figure out what works better for you with a ride. It doesn't have to be blind (one just has to be non-biased)

I'm interested in this topic, too. There are so many factors that can cause a placebo effect. There may even be subtle sounds coming from the frame as it goes over bumps, and different sounds, barely perceptible, can make for different impressions.

I have a full compy equipped cromo bike. Ive hung it on alot of frames columbus 531 aluminum But I keep putting it back on the cromo bike. To each his own I guess