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Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

fittish.deadspin.com

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Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#221

Post by tehwalrus »

dclowd9901 wrote: post #82
jdietrich wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Technology is an integral part of cycling, just as it is in motorsport. There are some one-design motorsport racing classes, but they are far from the most popular. Fans like to see innovation, we like to coo over the beautiful new machinery on display. Some of the greatest moments in cycling are directly related to technical progress, most obviously the Obree/Boardman battle for the hour record. On one side a profes…

If technology is integral, then why ban motors at all? Small motors and powerful compact energy supplies are technological advancements.

It crosses the border between using human muscles' energy output (and optimising the mechanical efficiency of that) and using some other energy source. Which is a fairly clear barrier for anyone to understand.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#222

Post by bigfudge »

techterrier wrote: post #141
dzhiurgis wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The biggest differentiator is height. I assume taller people have more muscle power hence should be put in different category.

Taller people also have more person to carry around.

The biggest challenge is aerodynamics. If you're over 6'3" and want to be at all comfortable you're going to present a much larger frontal area than someone shorter.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#223

Post by ashitlerferad »

wobbleblob wrote: post #191
bigiain wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Nope - that was aimed at me not them - but I'm happy to let the stereotype burn stand ;-) I will say to a first approximation, 100% of the RadioShack lycra liveried carbon fibre Trek riders I see riding through Sydney traffic on a weekday morning are _not_ Lance Armstrong class riders. (Not any more than I'm a Carl Fogarty or Troy Bayliss class motorcycle racer when I put my racing leathers on and fire up my Ducati M…

A little off topic, but what's cycling like there? From what I've heard (never been there) Australia is about as close as it gets to the perfect society... except they hate cyclists like the plague?

> Australia ... the perfect society

Hahaha

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#224

Post by rasz_pl »

sliverstorm wrote: post #105
exabrial wrote: post #102

Why not encourage this? F1 racing fueled innovation in this manner before they went crazy with engineering restrictions

Have you heard of Group B? That's the story of why racing today has heavy regulations.

You mean the very best thing that ever happened in rally sport? My first memory of watching TV was following WRC season 85 while holding in my 6 year old hands model of Ari Vananens Peugeot 205.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#225

Post by lmm »

hardlianotion wrote: post #205
lmm wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation? Flywheels can be very efficient especially with modern engineering. And it could be oriented so that the gyroscopic effects were stabilizing or destabilizing as desired, plus I think in any case riders would adapt quickly - I ride a "twitchy" bike with no front fork sometimes, and my old professor built a bike with a counter-rotating flywheel to disprove the myth that cyclists rely on gyroscopic effects to…

That's really interesting about the gyroscopic effects myth, as it is one I strongly believe! Is there some documentation of the bike or some analysis of this I can read?

http://www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~hemh/gyrobike.htm

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#226

Post by hardlianotion »

lmm wrote: post #225
hardlianotion wrote: post #205

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's really interesting about the gyroscopic effects myth, as it is one I strongly believe! Is there some documentation of the bike or some analysis of this I can read?

http://www2.eng.cam.ac.uk/~hemh/gyrobike.htm

Thanks!

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#227

Post by madaxe_again »

SeanDav wrote: post #202

I used to be an enthusiastic bicycle racing spectator. I would watch hours of the Tour De France everyday if I had the chance and pay close attention to other races. No longer. I have long since stopped watching, or caring what happens in bicycle racing. As far as I am concerned, the winner is the best cheat who has not been caught yet. I would not be the slightest bit surprised if half these guys had induction motor…

Never mind batteries up their backsides, blood doping is still rife, even at an amateur level. Many sportspeople have "that fridge", in which they keep spare blood for races - and it's very hard to detect - you have to look for puncture wounds.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#228

Post by wutbrodo »

hardlianotion wrote: post #205
lmm wrote: post #194

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Citation? Flywheels can be very efficient especially with modern engineering. And it could be oriented so that the gyroscopic effects were stabilizing or destabilizing as desired, plus I think in any case riders would adapt quickly - I ride a "twitchy" bike with no front fork sometimes, and my old professor built a bike with a counter-rotating flywheel to disprove the myth that cyclists rely on gyroscopic effects to…

That's really interesting about the gyroscopic effects myth, as it is one I strongly believe! Is there some documentation of the bike or some analysis of this I can read?

It's not a myth that gyroscopic effects contribute to stabilization, but rather that it explains the stabilization fully. It's usually phrased as "scientists still don't understand how bikes work [in terms of their stability]", which is pretty amazing if you think about it.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#229

Post by na85 »

terryf wrote: post #215
ddispaltro wrote: post #125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You have to ban things that are outright bad for athletes. You also have to remember, given a competition people will do whatever it takes to win, because someone else will. So you have to draw the line somewhere.

Why though? In many areas of life, people for example work themselves to death voluntarily. Why is there not a sport where there are really no limits at all?

Because at some point it stops being fun to watch if your race from point A to B is won by a supersonic fighter jet.

Also there's the pesky little problem of poor or up and coming athletes literally killing themselves to try to win big money, all for the benefit of some FIFA-alike and its sponsors.

Re: Thermal camera footage allegedly shows pro cyclists using motors

#230

Post by wutbrodo »

backtoyoujim wrote: post #128
paulmd wrote: post #64

Just take the bike out of the race entirely. Declare a year in advance that the bike will be XYZ model Q so people can train on them, and the race maintains custody of all race bikes, spares, etc. It's already a money-competition to see who can buy the best super-bike. Yes, you have to have a minimum weight, but that just means that you can take a superbike and spend the extra weight applying aerodynamic fairings whe…

People that don't write software but use software say the same thing about operating systems. "Why are there even more than one? It is absurd!"

Wow is this really what your sample is like? Most people I know implicitly understand the concept of consumer choice and don't have any trouble applying that to OSes. IPhone vs android probably played a big hand in that, but even before that, there was a good solid chunk that understood that Mac was an alternative to Windows (before OS X really blew up)
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