Aluminum Frame and Flex?
04-12-10, 02:59 AM
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Aluminum Frame and Flex?
Ok so I'm sitting on the edge of getting an aluminum track frame but have a slight concern... I was told I should look into going aluminum since I'm a big guy and was getting very noticeable flex down on the bottom bracket with my steel frame... So I took a Motobecane Team Track (AKA 08 Fuji Track Pro) out for a spin today and noticed that when I was standing over the bike and pressing the pedal with my leg I was getting a little flex... Mind you it was a lot less than my steel frame. I just wasn't sure if this was going to end up being a problem seeing as it is aluminum and not sure how it handles that much repeated flexing? Is the only way for me to get rid of all flex to get a carbon frame LOL? I like the frame a lot, I just worry about the flexing. Though I wonder if my worrying is just me feeding into all the aluminum propaganda... 
04-12-10, 07:05 AM
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Your cog is slipping.
04-12-10, 08:38 AM
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Your cog is slipping.
Hahaha! 
04-12-10, 10:06 AM
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different bikes are built different ways, and the flex doesn't have to do too much with raw materials so much as how they are handled. i had a gary fisher alum frame that flexed a LOT. it flexed so much my chain would occasionally jump. however my rocky mountain alum frame has always felt super strong. i love that frame. neither of those are have track ends, but the point remains.
04-12-10, 10:24 AM
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One can manipulate a frame to flex when it's not moving all day long, but when you're actually out on it, it's a different story.
I had a SS Soul Cycles 29er with an EBB, and after I built it up I swore something was wrong, bc when I'd stand on one side to check for any bb creak, the whole triangle would twist. Nothing was broken or damaged, it's just the way a frame works.
Getting out and riding it real time is going to be the most accurate way to determine if a frame has flex.
I had a SS Soul Cycles 29er with an EBB, and after I built it up I swore something was wrong, bc when I'd stand on one side to check for any bb creak, the whole triangle would twist. Nothing was broken or damaged, it's just the way a frame works.
Getting out and riding it real time is going to be the most accurate way to determine if a frame has flex.
04-12-10, 10:34 AM
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One can manipulate a frame to flex when it's not moving all day long, but when you're actually out on it, it's a different story.
I had a SS Soul Cycles 29er with an EBB, and after I built it up I swore something was wrong, bc when I'd stand on one side to check for any bb creak, the whole triangle would twist. Nothing was broken or damaged, it's just the way a frame works.
Getting out and riding it real time is going to be the most accurate way to determine if a frame has flex.
I had a SS Soul Cycles 29er with an EBB, and after I built it up I swore something was wrong, bc when I'd stand on one side to check for any bb creak, the whole triangle would twist. Nothing was broken or damaged, it's just the way a frame works.
Getting out and riding it real time is going to be the most accurate way to determine if a frame has flex.
04-12-10, 12:54 PM
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all materials flex. even carbon. in fact, carbon flexes a **** ton when it's not made correctly.
look, especially when you're a big guy, you can't expect to stand on something while pulling it on the compressed side and expect it not to flex.
look, especially when you're a big guy, you can't expect to stand on something while pulling it on the compressed side and expect it not to flex.
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