The rear end of my Rootdown is definitely smoother riding than Steve C's Honzo. Does the Surface ride that significantly much stiffer than the Rootdown, D? I would have guessed it was the other way around.
I'm not exactly the princess-and-the-pea; I couldn't perceive a notable difference between my Honzo (QR not 142), a Rootdown, or a Surface with similar tire volumes / pressure. If you can you are way more in tune with your bike then I.
I can tell the difference between any of those bikes and a number of bikes I have owned/ridden where you could get away with lower volume tires because of the amount of vertical give in the frame.
Obviously not talking about "suspension," but rather ride quality.
Ride a Rootdown and a Raijin back-to-back and you'll agree.
-D
***EDIT:
Morg, I don't know how much of a difference it would make but I do run my stays long - in the 16.9" range of the Rootdown - whereas I believe SteveC rungs his Honzo stays full short - ~16.3".
Between the short-as-possible stays (especially given how reinforced the stays are at the BB) and the 142-axle I could see his set-up being stiffer.
Would also be interesting to compare tire pressure/compounds/volumes.
I still think it is comparing two relatively stiff frames - especially as steel frames go.
-D
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