2021 Road Bike Stiffness Chart

[dbzznlqbqft]

Recently a chart listing TOUR magazine stiffness test data caught my interest, as a guy who loves data I decided to make one for myself. All the data are from tour magazine, but as I am not a german reader there are surely some missing models & mistakes. I hope you guys can help me update and improve it if you are willing to. Here are the models currently I am interested in, other models are also welcomed :

BMC Teammachine SLR (both 2017/2021)
Cannondale SuperSix HM (2016, Gen 2, rim-brake! rim-brake!)
Factor O2/O2 VAM

The problems I currently noticed:
i). Comfort only stands for the stock seatpost. Some models are allowed to change the seatpost, therefore if I swap my seatpost to something like DARIMO then we might have a different result.
ii). TOUR also has the aerodynamic result on a complete bike with the stock wheelset. But as aero varies hugely between a 25mm wheel and a 65mm wheel, all I can do is to sort out these aero bikes (this might be unfair for some models such as SL7).
iii). Some framesets were tested more than one time and lead to different results. For example, theoretically, 2015 Emonda SLR10 and SLR9 use the same frame but the result varies, so what I can do is to list them both (you will see a SLR in yellow and a SLR in red).
iv). I sort the models by brand - year - frame, as I am not an expert on some brands such as SCOTT, some frame model classification might be chaotic. For clarity, I am adding "DISC" for disc brake models no matter what.

Here is the result:



I am also posting the chart that caught my interest, I referred to some data in that chart.

Update 2021/3/13 - Don't be too serious about the data, this is just a reference better than nothing.
Update 2021/3/14 - Added 2016 Ultimate CF EVO, 2017 Vial EVO Ultra, 2017 Urgestalt DISC, 2019 795 Blade RS DISC
Update 2021/3/20 - Added 2014 Propel Advanced, 2015 765, 2015 GAN S, 2016 Blockhaus 67, 2016 Festka One, 2017 Cento 10 AIR, 2017 Dogma F10, 2017 Endurace CF SLX DISC, 2017 SuperSix Evo Hi-Mod DISC, 2018 Reacto CF4, 2020 SuperSix DISC, 2021 TCR Advanced DISC. Also modified some better name expressions for Merida and LOOK.

[spartacus]

What do all those numbers mean exactly? Lower number is less force to flex?

[dbzznlqbqft]

What do all those numbers mean exactly? Lower number is less force to flex?

Lower number means to flex more, which is not stiff in BB, headset and fork, but brings more comfort in seatpost. That why I made an inverse column in comfort section.

[stevesbike]

very interesting - my climbing bike is a 2016 Scott Addict SL and my ride impressions have never been a lack of stiffness. Would be interesting to see weight factored in to see how stiffness to weight ratio works out (e.g., the entire frameset is about 1 kg).

[spdntrxi]

seems like the TM01R and S5disc and propel went to the Pinarello Dogma school of bike making.

[dtwolfen]

I'm looking at the factor o2 vam disc, ridley helium disc, and specialized aether. I've asked around for test rides to see which is more to my liking, but no one stocks any of these near me. I take weight lose>comfort>stiffness and anything aero is extra. Why that order for me, I can add the numbers in my head while marveling how smooth the road is not sprinting to the %10 incline sign. I don't put out huge numbers I spin up hills. This is a great tool to look at. Thank you

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[dbzznlqbqft]

very interesting - my climbing bike is a 2016 Scott Addict SL and my ride impressions have never been a lack of stiffness. Would be interesting to see weight factored in to see how stiffness to weight ratio works out (e.g., the entire frameset is about 1 kg).

What I think is that such stiffness, aero, weight are just a number, and a good number brings joy for normal people. Even though SL7 BB stiffness seems to be shit, but it is already proven in competition, which means such BB stiffness might even be enough for professionals.

[dbzznlqbqft]

I take weight lose>comfort>stiffness and anything aero is extra.

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Totally agree, my philosophy is as a normal person we might not tell the difference in stiffness or aero, but a ridable lighter bike always brings more joy, and it is something you can feel when carrying your bike upstairs. (ridable here still means adequate stiffness, aero, comfort)

[Cemicar]

So Trek is generally inferior in stiffness? (but I remember they claimed BB90 was the best for the lateral stiffness or such). Still, the values of SL7, 2021 Emonda and Pinallero suggest threads BBs tend to flex.

[Andrew69]

What I think is that such stiffness, aero, weight are just a number, and a good number brings joy for normal people. Even though SL7 BB stiffness seems to be shit, but it is already proven in competition, which means such BB stiffness might even be enough for professionals.

I dont know, something is going on with those numbers
I highly doubt that every Trek tested is a noodle when it comes to BB stiffness

[dbzznlqbqft]

What I think is that such stiffness, aero, weight are just a number, and a good number brings joy for normal people. Even though SL7 BB stiffness seems to be shit, but it is already proven in competition, which means such BB stiffness might even be enough for professionals.

I dont know, something is going on with those numbers
I highly doubt that every Trek tested is a noodle when it comes to BB stiffness

All the brands listed above are mainly TDF brands that proven in competition, therefore a BB stiffness less than 60 might already be adequate. The red-yellow-green mark is just trying to have a little analysis.

[dbzznlqbqft]

So Trek is generally inferior in stiffness? (but I remember they claimed BB90 was the best for the lateral stiffness or such). Still, the values of SL7, 2021 Emonda and Pinallero suggest threads BBs tend to flex.

TREK always seems to receive an unsatisfactory result from TOUR, even though having good reputations in my LBS. Don't be too serious, this is just a reference better than nothing.

[ichobi]

I remember some engineer once said passing 60n/m nobody can really feel the difference in the stiffness for the bb. And the overall stiffness of the bike should be taken as a whole, not distributed parts. Some bikes have high stiffness number at say a bb but not so much on the headtube making the ride feels awkward. This is the case for first gen Canyon Aeroad.

The SL7 bb does not flex for me at least and it accelerates better than most bikes I have ridden. The power transfer feels is ridiculously good. I can’t say the same for many other equivalent priced bike that I have tried.

This example makes me think that The number is useful only when combined with riding experience. And even then it might not be. You might believe the number and makes a confirmation bias on your ride feel or vice versa. But thanks for compiling the chary. That is extremely useful as a point of reference.

[syplam]

Did they say what size they used to test?


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[mgrl]

One thing that it may not take into account is how different manufacturers deal with different sizes - I know that Specialized specifically beef up the larger frames in a way that other manufacturers don't, for example, which might explain why my 61 Tarmac SL7 feels a lot stiffer when sprinting than my previous gen 2XL Aeroad Disc.