bulgie 

Sounds like you're saying stiffer is more efficient, did I read that right?

I've been looking for evidence on that question for the last 45 years, and most of what I've seen points to the opposite, that stiffer frames are slower for many (most?) riders.

It could be that you're the rare rider that truly needs a stiffer frame, but you might be fantasizing a bit if you think your output is higher than the pros who used to happily sprint and win on some of the lightest whippiest "undersized" tubes of yore.

Bicycling magazine used to have a "Tarantula" frame stiffness testing fixture, and tested the frame Greg Lemond won the World Pro Road Race Championship on — in a sprint, against a couple of known-great road sprinters including Sean Kelly (multiple TdF Green Jersy winner). Bicycling declared Lemond's TVT the most flexible frame they had ever measured.

But you might actually benefit from a stiffer frame than Lemond's. I'm not being sarcastic. Adapting your pedaling to use the stored energy in a flexy frame is a learned skill, which you may not have developed. Pros can see a quarter-million miles of racing and training over their career, so it's no insult to say you don't pedal like a pro.

Yes "Stiff frames are for beginners!" overstates the case a bit, but it's catchy...

In the late-'90s, I worked at the place that built Schwinn Paramounts out of oversized 853, and I gotta say, I didn't like those frames much. We framebuilders were given the option to make one for ourselves, as a benefit (I think it was free or maybe we had to pay for the paintjob). I chose to pass on that offer, it wasn't a frame I would ever want to ride. And my muscle makeup was definitely on the fast-twitch, sprinty side. In my undistinguished racing palmares, the races where I won or placed, it was almost always in a sprint. Often in crits. I should have been the target market for those frames, but I found I went better on undersized tubes and road geometry.

I do like 853, the steel, just not some of the larger tubes they make it into. They also make some small and thin tubes in 853 and that might be what USAZorro has in the Bob Jackson he mentioned. That sounds like my kinda frame! As long as it fits fattish tires — I don't think I'll ever willing ride smaller than 30 mm tires ever again.

Mark B