John
I respect your views or else I'd dismiss that statement out of hand. I am genuinely confused. Are we at odds over basic terminology, here? Does THAT explain our disagreement on this?
1) I associate 'softer axle' with the concept of a more flexible axle. Do we differ in THAT area?
2) If 'softer' (in the case of kart axles) does not equate to 'more flexible' in your opinion, what DOES 'softer' mean, here?
3) I would have argued that a LONGER axle (assuming the wheels are at the end of the axle) would behave more like a SOFTER axle (effectively)... at least, the axle, as a whole, would be more flexible. Do we not agree on that?
4) The part of an axle that is beyond the limit of the hub (and thus the effects induced by the 'grip' of the tyres) would have a VANISHINGLY small effect on handling. Most axles are hollow and that last couple of millimeters weigh 'b*gg*r *ll' when compared to the rest of the kart. Do we not agree on that?
I am sitting here, BAFFLED .... How do you see a longer length of flexible material being LESS flexible than a shorter length? Wouldn't your 'logic' imply that an axle of 1mms in length would be damned nigh INFINITELY 'soft'? I can't get my head around that. Please explain it to me in simple terms.
Look at it in another area of physics. The pitch of the note produced by a guitar string is controlled by the mass of the string, the 'flexibility' of the string and the length of the string. Any sting, unfretted, produces a note of X pitch when plucked. If I 'finger' the string at the 5th fret (for example) it produces EXACTLY the same pitch of note as if I had re-attached the sting at the 5th fret and had CUT OFF the string that passes over fret 1,2,3, and 4! That is the EXACT parallel to the axle protruding past the hub. When the string is 'fretted' above the Zeroth fret (or nut), that 'isolated' piece of string does NOT affect the Pitch. (Please don't argue about sympathetic harmonics in the 'fretted area': We are talking about PITCH, not TONE)
All this would imply that the PITCH produced by a guitar srting would be affected by the amount of sring that protruded BEYOND the Machine Head (string tensioner) and that is plain BONKERS! Those of us who trim the the 'loose' string would, under YOUR logic, produce a LOWER note than those who leave the strings uncut on the same guitar, string, tension. We DO NOT!
As I said, if it wasn't you who'd said it, I'd laugh!
Ian
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