Wow, people are really serious about those Strava KOMs.
For those you just need a car.
Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors
51–60 of 307 posts
Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors
#52It would be more interesting if it was legal with some reasonable limitations. It could be one more reason for boosting the battery technology.
Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors
#53I'm not sure why the focus is on the motors. They can be tiny and well hidden, but what about the batteries ? They are bound to be hidden in the hollow tubing. Why don't they just require a small hole where they can poke in a stick to verify the tubes are hollow ? A simple weight check would also suffice. The bike has a known legal weight, oh, suddenly its 3 kilos heavier...
> The bike has a known legal weight, oh, suddenly its 3 kilos heavier... Part of the issue is that bikes have a minimum weight, but with modern materials it's quite easy to go below that minimum. So they can cover the added weight of the motor and batteries by cutting elsewhere.
moreover, it's not rare when the bikes carry additional weight to be UCI-legal in terms of minimum weight.
Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors
#54I'm starting to think that all major sports are fake.
Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors
#55It would be more interesting if it was legal with some reasonable limitations. It could be one more reason for boosting the battery technology.
I think they should allow it, but only with capacitors that are shorted prior to start. This way, it can only be used to improve efficiency.
Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors
#56Am I the only cyclist here? I can't imagine voluntarily putting batteries in my bike on a long, mountainous stage. There's no way the batteries will last, and then I'm stuck with dead weight. And, looking through the actual documentary, I didn't see any incontrovertable thermal proof of a battery in any racer. In the guy posing for a shot, yes, but not in the cyclists laboring up the hill.
Modern race bikes are already deadweighted to make it to the minimum weight, so it's not a question of making the bike heavier.
Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors
#57Earlier quoted context omitted.
From the video linked, it sounds like they can (legally) switch bikes during the race, so they could just switch back to a legit bike close to the finish.
Cut up all the bikes. Or use the more reasonable suggestion in the sibling to my comment and just dismantle them enough to do a good inspection.
Or, you know, just X-Ray them. Aren't most competition-level bikes using carbon fibre frames these days? For metal frames, ultrasound would work just as well.
Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors
#58What makes cycling so particularly attractive to cheating? Or is cheating in cycling just getting more publicity than in other sports?
Its getting more press because the other leagues are suppressing it. It is not hard too believe that there is an immense amount of PED use in NFL (way too much money on the line) and probably the NBA and Soccer.
Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors
#59For the big races, why don't they embargo the bikes prior to the race? Then xray them at random. Beginning of the day the rider pics up the bike, turn it in at night. The mechanic can work on it, whatever, in a special shop. Especially for the one day races. I can see how this would be difficult with multi-day races, but something like this should be feasible elsewhere.
It's logistically very difficult. All ProTour riders will have at least one spare bike. The teams will also have at least 20 spare wheelsets available. For a typical one-day like the Paris-Roubaix, that means at least 400 bikes and a thousand spare wheels. These bikes and wheels all need to be checked and maintained before every day of racing.
Cycle races often start and finish in small towns, so the teams may have to stay in hotels some distance from the course. It would be impractical to find a suitable building for parc ferme at most races and it would be costly to erect temporary facilities.
The professional racing calendar is extremely busy, so a team mechanic may be travelling continuously from late January to early December. There simply isn't the time available for a parc ferme.
I think the current strategy is perfectly satisfactory. Riders are immediately intercepted after the finish line. The race leaders and some randomly selected riders will have their equipment inspected, in the same way that they are tested for doping.
Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors
#60Am I the only cyclist here? I can't imagine voluntarily putting batteries in my bike on a long, mountainous stage. There's no way the batteries will last, and then I'm stuck with dead weight. And, looking through the actual documentary, I didn't see any incontrovertable thermal proof of a battery in any racer. In the guy posing for a shot, yes, but not in the cyclists laboring up the hill.
It will obviously pay for itself in terms of energy... in the limiting case, you could just hop in a Tesla and win the race.