No doubt, this guy was slamming the downtube HARD, granted it was an MTB frame. But yeah, a lot of the damage pictured in the link I posted above appears to be precisely where you indicate. The new Evo hi-mods claim to be more impact resistance than the Caad9. Timmy Duggan made a fantastic claim about his surviving after a car ran over his: http://m.bikeradar.com/gear/article/pro-bike-timmy-duggans-cannondale-supersix-34965/ Like its rider, Timmy Duggan's Cannondale SuperSix EVO Team has been knocked around, yet it bounces back. At the Tour of Poland, a car ran over his bike.... Whether true or not and exactly how the car ran over it can only be guessed upon by those not present.