This is another method: wheel accelerated by induction, no gears, no noise. http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/electromagnetic-wheels-are-t...
Hidden motors for road bikes
51–60 of 149 posts
Re: Hidden motors for road bikes
#52Don't bicycle races have inspections? Safety or otherwise? I'm more familiar with motorcycle and car races where there are long lists of "class", safety, and weight requirements. Would be trivial to detect either by weight or looking down seat tube.
They are now x-raying (some) bikes at (some) races.
Re: Hidden motors for road bikes
#53Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Here's the thing. No one to date has actually been caught using one. Actually 6 weeks ago Femke Van den Driessche was caught with a motor in the Cyclocross World Championships. The UCI are pushing for a lifetime ban and a very hefty fine for Van den Driessche, so there is a significant disincentive: http://cyclingtips.com/2016/03/uci-seeking-lifetime-ban-and-...
That's the same exact case GP is talking about. Femke's spare bike was found to have the motor, not the one she was riding during the race.
That isn't what Wikipedia says at all:
> During the race, the UCI checked the bicycles of Van den Driessche and found a motor in the bicycle she was riding.
And:
> “After one lap of the world championships, UCI took Femke’s bike in the pit area and tested it with some sort of tablet,” said Sporza journalist Maarten Vangramberen. “The bike was immediately sealed and taken. The UCI then called in the Belgian federation. When the saddle was removed, there were electrical cables in the seat tube. When they wanted to remove the bottom bracket, which is normally not difficult, they could not because the crank was stuck. Inside there was a motor.”
Several people in this thread are repeating the claim that it was a pit bike, the UCI seems to think otherwise. I am siding with the UCI on this one.
[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Femke_Van_den_Driessche#Allega... [1] http://velonews.competitor.com/2016/01/news/uci_detains_bike...
Re: Hidden motors for road bikes
#54I'd never would have thought to use a worm ring geared motor hidden in the frame. Reminds me of how nitrous bottles are hidden inside roll cages and cooling systems in racing cars. Cheating is an art of itself.
The favorite nitrous story I heard was the guy that had it hidden in the hood of his car. The first thing they would do during inspection after he was accused would be to remove the hood.
A scooped hood I assume? I've seen it in so many places, including inside the fuel tank. I've wired a small amount of such systems into whatever switch is available on the dashboard. Hiding the solenoids is the real issue on wet systems...Life as a street racer was fun (but stupid). :)
Re: Hidden motors for road bikes
#55There are two videos on Youtube that have been regarded by bike fans as suspicous. I will let HN readers make their own minds up! https://youtu.be/8Nd13ARuvVE?t=3m35s and https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ideiS-6gBAc I would love to hear smart people's thoughts!
The second video is very suspicious. Cycle shoes attach to the pedal by a click system. When you fall, you usually detach from the pedal by one foot. The other one detaches very dependent on the situation, or not at all. You see this happening: Hesjedal falls, one foot clicks out. His second foot stays clicked in.
After Hesjedal falls, you clearly see the kinetic energy stopped of the back part of the bicycle at one moment. This is because his pedal is still attached to his right foot. After he "clicks out", the back wheel seems to bring the back part of the bicycle in motion. This is unexpected; the back part of the bicycle does not posses any kinetic energy.
Two other options exist for the bicycle movement to occur. 1) the left pedal is fixed to the connecting surface area (road) while the cranks still move. 2) the rear wheel still has kinetic energy (still turning).
The first option simply does not occur, as the right pedal keeps its position relative to the frame of the bicycle (see later frames in the video). The second option would never transfer enough energy to the bicycle as to display the observed bicycle movement. Hesjedal is already lowering speed substantially since he needs to maneuver into the left sharp corner. His speed is 20KMPH max, I'd say probably around 15KMPH. That is by far and large not enough to make the whole bicycle want to spin around hile on the ground.
Re: Hidden motors for road bikes
#56I'd never would have thought to use a worm ring geared motor hidden in the frame. Reminds me of how nitrous bottles are hidden inside roll cages and cooling systems in racing cars. Cheating is an art of itself.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Celica_GT-Four#ST205_.2...
"During the 1995 World Rally Championship season, Toyota was caught using illegal turbo restrictors at the Rally Catalunya and were given a one-year ban by the FIA. FIA president Max Mosley called the illegal turbo restrictor "the most sophisticated device I've ever seen in 30 years of motor sports.""
Re: Hidden motors for road bikes
#57Don't bicycle races have inspections? Safety or otherwise? I'm more familiar with motorcycle and car races where there are long lists of "class", safety, and weight requirements. Would be trivial to detect either by weight or looking down seat tube.
Messing with the height of someone's seat by pulling it out before a race would ... not be seen very well. A lot of people can tell when it's off by a few millimeters. But yeah, they are doing inspections these days.
Bike seat height adjustments are very simple: the seat is mounted on a tube, which fits within the slightly larger seat tube and then is clamped.
Getting the exact same position is easy: just use a Sharpie marker on the inner tube to show where it fits in the outer tube. Draw a second, vertical line across both tubes to make sure the orientation is the same.
Re: Hidden motors for road bikes
#58I just don't get how psychologically how these people are making this ok with themselves. I almost get human doping (I don't approve it, but I get it) but this is straight cheating.
Re: Hidden motors for road bikes
#59Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Actually 6 weeks ago Femke Van den Driessche was caught with a motor in the Cyclocross World Championships. He discussed that: she was not caught using one.
That doesn't matter, the UCI code considers all equipment that a rider or team possesses within the confines of the race area as to be part of the equipment covered by the rules, and every rider and team knows this. The presence, within or on the margins of a cycling competition, of a bicycle that does not comply with the provisions of article 1.3.010. The use by a rider, within or on the margins of a cycling competi…
good point, if a teacher catches you with a "cheat sheet" in school but you don't use it, is the student charged with cheating? yes, most likely.
Re: Hidden motors for road bikes
#60Earlier quoted context omitted.
Easier than that, simply X-Ray the bikes at the finish line. Don't even announce which races will do it, that way partial enforcement can work.
I'm sure all these health conscious road bikers will love being blasted with X-rays. Millimeter waves sound so much more friendly.
The government already uses large X-ray scanners to X-ray vehicles with riders in them. The scanner manufacturers insist these X-rays are perfectly safe to use on humans even though they're strong enough to penetrate steel.
Millimeter waves won't penetrate metal, so they probably wouldn't work on bikes.