"* * Chas" wrote:

Most steel frame Treks of that era were made with fairly light gage
tubing. Smaller frames 54cm frames or less are going to be stiffer
riding especially for riders weighing under 150 lbs. Heavy gage tubing
is also going to make for a stiffer riding bike.

Common wisdom, perhaps, but I have to point out that when Bicycle
Guide magazine did a blind test 15 years ago (give or take), and had
otherwise identical bikes built from every set of tubing in the line
(from Columbus, IIRC), suddenly all the "common wisdom" disappeared...
the reviewers who'd previously waxed eloquent on the relative and
obvious changes that resulted from changing one tube in a frame were
suddenly unable to distinguish any of the frames from each other. In
fact, when they summarized the overall impressions, the lowest-grade
(heaviest) tubing got more votes for the best riding frame.

The position (that frame material, especially subtle variations in the
same kind of material - make a big difference in ride quality) is one
that many on r.b.t. have challenged. Many have disagreed with these
challenges, but none has been able to come up with a plausible
mechanism that supports the contention that somehow a vertically
inflexible structure like the rear end of a bicycle can deflect enough
to make a significant difference when masked by the much, much larger
vertical compliance of the tires, rims, saddle, bars, stem and bar
tape.

Mark Hickey
Habanero Cycles
http://www.habcycles.com
Home of the $795 ti frame