“”I never believed or experienced that seat rails make much if any difference. Length, diameter and thickness of the seatpost are far more significant I reckon. “”
I don’t think this is really the case as i’ve had quite a few steel (853 – 725 and columbus) and Ti and they all had 27.2 seat posts – the exception was the external diameter of the ti bikes seat tube (it was a bit bigger) However they all road quite differently. I had a cove hanjob, one of the first ones, and it was really flexy, and for want of a better work zingy. I had a marin too, that was a harsher ride than my kona which has the ride i liked the most, not to flexy feeling, not as harsh as the marin. I think a lot to do with it is the shape and angles of the rear end, snake stays seem a lot flexier, the steepness of the angle of them affects the ride too – the steeper the less verticle complience – stands to reason don’t it.