UKC

http://road.cc/content/news/177183-mechanical-doping-cyclocross-worlds-confirmed

Love the fact she denies knowledge of the motor, and says she has done nothing wrong.

It wasn't my bike, it was that of a friend and was identical to mine. This friend went around the course Saturday before dropping off the bike in the truck.

A mechanic, thinking it was my bike, cleaned it and prepared it for my race, and was totally unaware it was fitted with a hidden motor.

I wonder if she would have been unaware of the go fast button

In reply to robert-hutton:

She never actually rode it in the race, but it doesn't sound very plausible.

In reply to The New NickB:

According to the article she did ride it in the race.

In reply to The New NickB:
Brian Cookson, confirmed the bike the 19-year-old Belgian was riding, when she pulled out of the race with mechanical problems, was later found to contain a concealed motor

In reply to robert-hutton:

I must have misread it this morning!

In reply to robert-hutton:

Mildly better than the 'contaminated beef' defence.

In reply to robert-hutton:

I want to know where I can get one of these motors; it sounds great...

I'm assuming it does regenerative braking, too...

In reply to robert-hutton:

It makes some of the doping excuses sound almost believable.
I am curious though about how much the motor would help? Surely for it to be any use you need a fairly serious battery pack which in turn would make the bike noticably heavier.

In reply to robert-hutton:

Keep them coming girl, here's a few you can have for free...
The Tyler Hamilton: 'I must have unwittingly had a chimeric twin bike with an unusual bottom bracket'
The Lance Armstrong: 'Everyone else has concealed motors, I was merely levelling the playing field'
The Father Ted: 'that motor was just resting in my bottom bracket'

In reply to robert-hutton:

Brilliant! I loved this story. We're finally back to the good old days with proper mechanical doping. I really hope someone gets caught taking a short cut or catching a train in the road season.

In reply to robert-hutton:

I am almost positive that such things go on also in the big races, but the pro teams may be a bit better in covering them up. Suspicious incidents like the one discussed here

http://www.ukclimbing.com/forums/t.php?n=624133

come up from time to time, but changing a bike may be harder to conceal in cyclocross with its short courses.

CB

In reply to steveriley:




Surely that would be an ecumenical matter?

In reply to bouldery bits:


Down with this sort of thing!

In reply to Trevers:


Careful now.

In reply to captain paranoia:

http://www.vivax-assist.com/en/produkte/vivax-assist-4-0/vivax-assist_4-0.p...

In reply to Mikkel:

Interesting; a 33.6V, 9Ahr battery gives an energy store of about 1MJ.

So, based on the quoted mass of 1.8kg, it can lift itself up 1e6/m.g ~ 62km height gain. So it is worth it, used appropriately.

And the battery capacities tally with the quoted durations and motor powers (200W for 90 minutes = 1MJ).

In reply to captain paranoia:

That battery capacity and power output is way more than required for giving you a massive advantage. In the 2005 TdF, cyclists were measured to have an average output of roughly 200W for the entire day, about 300W for half an hour in mountain stages, and about 500W for 3min when pulling away from a group uphill. Any added engine power would have more likely been used in short bursts on uphill segments of the course, e.g. to pull away from a group, or to tire one´s competitors out by forcing them to match an uphill pace they cannot sustain over several rounds.

CB

In reply to robert-hutton:

The thing I don't get is that this was a CX race - adding almost 2kg of motor, battery and driveshaft/gearing to a bike that you spend a substantial fraction of the race carrying uphill through mud is going to hurt, and most CX courses don't really have long straights. Maybe the trade-off between a heavier bike and being able to accelerate at a higher rate out of the wiggly bits is worth it (until you get caught of course - minimum 6 month ban and 20000 CHF fine). It does seem like an odd discipline to use this particular form of cheating in.

Anyway, grit.cx has a good write-up and commentary: http://grit.cx/news/2016/02/cyclcross-motor-doping-what-we-know

In reply to jfmchivall:


That puzzled me but they do seem some good counter arguments.
Namely the bike might have been lead ballasted anyway to get to the legal weight. So swap that ballast for motor and you are laughing.
Then as you say being able to accelerate out faster would help.

Be interesting to see what it actually looks like. Since even the stealthy motor that has been bandied about could be caught in a few seconds by checking waterbottles/saddlepack. So would need the batteries being custom hidden.

In reply to Mikkel:


That looks great for everyday transport, until you see the price.

In reply to elsewhere:

I like the Invisible Performance Package option at 499,00 EUR, looks like items are hidden in seat post and water bottle.

LeMond says “I believe it’s been used in racing [and] I believe it’s been used sometimes in the Grand Tours,”

vimeo.com/134509048

In reply to robert-hutton:

The waterbottle isnt that hidden though. Good enough to make me look cool kicking your arse uphill but would fail scrutiny if I was stupid enough to stop for cake and you took a minute to look.
It really needs a custom battery back inserted either into the seat post (if enough room) or into the top tube.

I cant find the link now but there was one company offering bikes, similar to the one used, built up with it in.

In reply to robert-hutton:
One of her laps in the Koppenberg Cross last year was 7s faster than the elite men - impossible.

Wally

In reply to robert-hutton:

electromagnetic wheels?
http://www.cyclingnews.com/news/electromagnetic-wheels-are-the-new-frontier...

In reply to robert-hutton:
some interesting ideas here: visforvoltage.org/forum/13629-concepts-ebike-propulsion
i like the switched reluctance motor 'concept' using the disc or rim
imagine what the pros are up to..