Pro Cyclists Cheat, Use Motors

Ugh. ..Current penalties obviously don't deter cheaters.
Just like our former PM, Brian Mulrooney accepting envelopes stuffed with cash or the US ignoring KSA terror on 911.
Penalties need to be stiff, in order to deter criminals and those who facilitate their deeds.
Looks like bribery is alive and well in cycling/Europe.
http://fittish.deadspin.com/secret-thermal-camera-footage-allegedly-shows-seven-pro-1771492666

 

Cycling has enough problems as it is but I am intrigued at the technology, a nano electric motor ? Where are the batteries ? How accessed ?

Thank goodness the US does not allow cheating in cycling. Lance Armstrong would not stand for it!

 

Yeah, I want one.
The article says the good motors cost around 10,000- so I won't be winning the Tour anytime soon.
Don't need expensive IR cameras.
Wonder why they just don't weigh the bikes. A motor and battery must add at least 3 pounds. Compare with weights of other competitive frames. ..take the winning bike immediately after race...It must be easy to do, which is why there must be accomplices in race officials. Bribery
The article brings up questions regarding how an advanced motor would be worth more than a winning team.

Cycling is about as popular as women's basketball in NA.

Also think the penalties afforded LA and his mates should have been harsher. Make it hurt, so that others aren't tempted.
Lance is a wealthy man living a good life. He had a lot of cancer patients rooting for him.

Arguing that you didn't know which drugs were allowed or created false positives vs having a motor in your bike. Open shut case.

 

people will do anything to win that money....the engine makers should've put some stealth technology in it...

 

the smart way to do it would be for the team members of the main competitor to be the ones with the motors. That way he could draft them longer and faster and nothing would show up on the winners bike. One could even create another team whose sole purpose was to act as lead bikes so the main team wouldn't wear themselves out early in the race. Lots of ways to use something like this with minimal chance to get caught.

 

Given the most expensive of these "motors" provide pedal assistance in the realm of 60 watts, with modern materials, we're probably talking well less than 2 pounds (thereof the fantastic cost 50,000 Euro) . Their main benefit being the use of assistance in an uphill climb to pull away.

https://www.newscientist.com/article/2085403-hidden-motors-cyclings-mechanical-doping-problem-hits-new-low/

"Electromagnetic wheel systems are somewhat mysterious and don’t seem to be sold openly..."

The Vivax system sold openly weighs 1.8 kilos (5 lbs) including battery.

 

Albert Hing said when he was in Singapore, he was very surprised how neat and clean it is...said anyone caught spitting/littering etc was punished by public caning.
Fear of punishment needs to be instilled, in order to clean up sports/politics.

 

If you compare cycling with other endurance sports (Marathon, Triathlon etc.) it is obvious, that there is a big difference: cyclists have to compete far more often. Nearly every day for 3 weeks for 5 hours or so during the Tour de France. It is the most brutal sport you can imagine. There is heat, cold weather, rain, you have to sleep every day somewhere and the next day you have to be as competitive as possible.
Cheating is inevitable under these conditions.

With easy changes in the rules, irregular bikes can be avoided. For example: Other teams can buy your bikes for a given price. The drivers know exactly, what is possible without an additional engine, cheaters will be discovered soon.

 

One way would be to use stock bikes. The race would buy or get manufacturers to donate bikes for a given race and they are used for that race only. I suspect they could be auctioned off for more than the retail price afterwards (at least in some cases). For a race like the Tour de France they could change bikes daily. It would also tend to level the playing field.

 

Make them smaller and from the right tissue and they could be used as implants for knee joints etc for most sport.

 

The bikes are taylormade. If you drive distances like they do during the Tour de France or the Giro d'Italia, it doesn't work with stock bikes. Especially when the drivers are used to ride bikes that were made for them.
Maybe some of the bikes could be sold easily after such a race, but cycling has lost most of its fans, there is almost no interest in Germany for example anymore. No one wants to see these zombies full of drugs.

From a young female austrian triathlet i heard, that there is no success possible without doping, even in the austrian youth competitions. That's what doctors told her and every athlet knows it. They were lying all the time only for financial reasons not to loose their sponsors.
Knowing this, there will never be a "clean" Tour de France or a marathon anymore, this is just an illusion.

 

The bikes could be stock bikes. I suspect todays bikes are huge improvements over those from say 50 years ago. How old are the long races like the Tour de France? Custom bikes are a way of making it about the equipment rather than the athlete, one could argue the drugs are a more extreme version of that. If one wanted to rescue the sport extreme measure look to be necessary. The question is how much interest is there in rescuing the sport?

 

There are probably a lot of small ways to cheat that add up...Would helium or nitrogen filled tires make a difference...Dynamic jerseys and helmets.
The seat tube motor- wonder how much more energy the rider expends carrying the extra weight, also the added friction having to turn the drive of the motor. Or is the transmission gear not always engaged, does the battery get recharged while riding.
Thanks gs for the links.

 

Not sure if nitrogen filled tires would actually help. Nitrogen is a bit heavier than air from what I recall. Helium would lighten the bike a bit as would Hydrogen but things might get interesting if heat built up. Helium also tends to be able to escape a bit easier than air so in a long race might tend towards flats. Then there's the question of whether or not it is really "cheating". I assume there's quite a bit of leeway as regards to fine tuning the bikes. Is there a minimum weight?

 

It seems a lot of fuss and hard work,why not do what everyone else does, keep it simple and just take drugs.

 

I could use a bionic knee. Ken could use a bionic shoulder. Let them cheat, for the good of Man.
There are probably a lot of Chinese prisoners willing to voluntarily give up their joints for humanitarian purposes.

 

The problem with cheating is, that no one will watch doped zombies riding motor driven hybrids. And no interest = no money.

 

People and money watched zombie armstrong before they knew he was cheating.
People watch zombies today (who aren't zombies until caught).
I'd rather watch robot racing. Speeds would be faster, and nobody gets hurt or suspended.
F1 could actually be exciting if drivers weren't afraid of dying.

 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ideiS-6gBAc

 

From looking at Poppy's FLIR photo it appears their thigh and possible calf muscles have been replaced by motors so perhaps it is not the bikes !. And dang, Brian, I had not thought of knee replacements as being powered. Dumb me got then old fashioned ones which require I use my own muscles. Boy, do I wish powered knees were possible ! Given what my insurance company paid they should have had nano motors.

I do not doubt a regenerative electric motor could be placed in a hub but I will believe it when I see a Tour bike taken off the race route and cut open.

In the meantime II will continue to watch the race. Today had a spectacular finish. I actually quit work for the last 20 minutes !