So there was a bit of hoopla when the first cyclist was caught with a motor hidden in the frame, but I don’t think it was discussed here on tarck. IIRC the forum was down when the news broke, at least it didn’t load for me.
She always denied the bike found in her depo with a motor in it was hers, but I for one don’t buy the “my mechanics mixed up the bikes and thought the one I sold a year ago was mine” excuse. It seems that she realised no one is buying it, and decided to ragequit cycling before they ban her.
The story has also taken some even more peculiar twists. Turns out her brother was caught doping, and her father and brother stole expensive birds from a pet shop - and they were caught because the pet shop owner recognized them from the media coverage of the motor cheating debacle. All we are missing here is a connection to blood diamonds or a sexual scandal of some sort and we have material for half a season of a decent telenovela.
Did Cancellara use one of these a few years back? Are the reptilians behind all of this? We owe it to tarckbear to speculate.
I would use one of these if it would keep me from getting sweaty on my way to work
Oh I love that it’s a whole family of scandalous thieving cheaters! That’s just delicious!
Crossing my fingers that more drama, cheating and scandals sneak their way into cycling until it goes full pro-wrastling.
How rad would it be to have a biathlon type race where the cyclists shoot drugs instead of targets?
Two people much closer to the euro peloton than me or probably anyone else on this forum told me 3 years ago that there was no-way somebody hadn’t won a major race while mechanically doping yet.
Me and Seth got pushed up a hill by a 20mph wind yesterday. Must be what moto-doping feels like. You’re still pedaling, but damn it’s easy.
I’ve been having flashes of a race where everyone on a team is allowed to use low power e-assist except for the team leaders. But only the team leaders can race for the win. The return of derny racing!
this sentence is confusing
It took me four or five passes to comprehend it.
I just remember how instantly dismissive we all were of the claims that Cancellara was using a motor to win Flanders. It seemed literally impossible, complete bullshit.
If you want to see a debate about as conclusive and well supported as that on planing, watch the recommended related videos. Conservation of momentum! The wheel hit the ground! Clearly a motor! Back and to the left!
Well that one is obviously total fucking bullshit. Where would a motor even fit in a Mavic hub? There’s just no space in there.
if not for a motor, how can that ryder h video be explained?
also holy shit @ how much the wheel flexes when it hits the ground
this sentence is confusing[/quote]
Rando hasn’t been posting much and y’all are out of practice.
I believe that these mechanical dopers have the motor in the bottom bracket, driving the cranks rather than the hub.
I also didn’t watch the video because I’m at work, so I could be way off base here.
There’s a GCN Youtube video where they test a motor-assisted road bike. In the example they tested cadence was limited by the motor and there was some definite mechanical noise that could be heard with the motor engaged. I’m sure if these are being used by the pros they’re more sophisticated, but it still seems like it would take some planning to win a race on one. That said, if LA has taught us anything it’s that ridiculously brazen cheating can work with the right planning.
I can definitely see some scenarios where motor assist could be a huge help without arousing much suspicion like putting domestiques on them for mountain stages, or even sprinters so they don’t have to work so hard to make the time cut and are fresher for the next day.
Exactly. I suspect the true use for motor cheating is not at the top of the group, but at the bottom, and with occasional judicious use. how nice would that be to have a way to help your team be better for the next day after a difficult stage which you can use to augment your hideously expensive and difficult to hide doping scheme that already is to the point of marginal gains.
Wind noise at 30 mph would totally mask the motor noise. Plus the follow cars, camera bikes, crowd cheering.
