Originally Posted by
Kimmo
You mean you've never seen a bike with a damaged head tube? Come on.
Now imagine a bike with a 2" tall head tube. Doesn't that tell you that a 4" head tube is doing it harder than a 6" head tube?
Now consider some of the less robust headset systems getting around these days.
Not really - I've seen a lot of bike with damaged top and down tubes where they enter the much thicker head tube, and they were all larger bikes.
Short head tubes are generally more robust because the top and down tubes a braced against each other, making the head tube stiffer. Moving the headset bearings closer to each other doesn't make anything weaker, either.
And, small bike are ridden by lighter people. So I don't know where you're pulling this from. But I'd love to see pictures of these damaged short head tubes.