I was thinking about the stress on the frame being the same regardless of gearing.
No. Think about where the loads of the frame are coming from. Ok, there's your weight and the vertical loading coming through the wheel/seatpost/handlebars. But there's also a twisting moment coming from your pedals which primarily acts on the bottom bracket. (you've also got your handlebars giving the same kind of moment). This bottom bracket load comes about because you're applying force to the pedals, and this force is at a distance sideways from the bottom bracket. This causes the bottom bracket to twist, and this resistance to twisting (bottom bracket stiffness) is provided by the down and seat-tubes, and also the chainstay.
More force/torque, more frame load. Big strong sprinters need frames with beefed up bottom brackets and it's not unheard of for frames to fail at the bottom bracket area.
No. Think about where the loads of the frame are coming from. Ok, there's your weight and the vertical loading coming through the wheel/seatpost/handlebars. But there's also a twisting moment coming from your pedals which primarily acts on the bottom bracket. (you've also got your handlebars giving the same kind of moment). This bottom bracket load comes about because you're applying force to the pedals, and this force is at a distance sideways from the bottom bracket. This causes the bottom bracket to twist, and this resistance to twisting (bottom bracket stiffness) is provided by the down and seat-tubes, and also the chainstay.
More force/torque, more frame load. Big strong sprinters need frames with beefed up bottom brackets and it's not unheard of for frames to fail at the bottom bracket area.