Originally Posted by
rpenmanparker
That's a bit prejudiced, no? You can't just propose the result (noodle) that makes your case. If you don't know, what is the point of saying?
I don't know, but my guess is somewhat educated. I can tell you how stiff an oversized steel tube bike is in general having owned one, and ridden several.
Rodriguez didn't magically change the charecteristics of steel. The tubes on that bike are not particularly oversized, and there's no unusual shaping. To get to the frame weight claimed, they've got to be using very thin walled tubing (which also btw is not terribly durable due to denting issues).
So very thin walled steel tubing that isn't particulary over dimensioned, and doesn't use any exotice shaping in all probability is going to be way more flexible than a modern CF bike.
It's also somewhat telling that the y sell the bike on weight and comfort, with no claim as to stiffness, and no mention that I can see of any special techniques to increase stiffness.
And the reason many people find steel bikes to be comfortable is because they're flexy.