erik saunders said:in the USA, all the tech is crazy... because americans are nuts with consumerism...
Mostly due to the declassification of lots of military secrets. Much of the technology you take
for granted in Titanium/Carbon frames had its roots in submarine technology and hush-hush
skunkworks stuff.
Quoted message said:lets just not ever limit any bike designs and have recumbents in UCI races, with regular bikes of
all stupid wacky forms, and see how good things look to the spectators... and see what happens...
Hey, why not recumbent races? Mountain biking isn't that old, and they're still trying to thrash out
something that will survive in the USA. It seems there's a bike maker on every block these days, but
that could be because I live in the Santa Cruz area...
Quoted message said:this might not be so bad... there are motorsports that are able to attract a lot of $$$ without
everyone racing the same car, but cycling is a sport with a lot of tradition, and that tradition
must be preserved, or it is not truly the same sport that bred all the great champions whom the
world reveres...
I fail to see the tradition - technology connection, aside from higher profile teams getting the
very best and very expensive bikes, while Div II & III teams make do with what sponsors give
them. There is a rate of declining return and effectively a good rider is the determining factor
these days, as most eq is 99.9% the same quality. The weight limit still plays a roll in keeping
things balanced.
Quoted message said:the first consideration of the UCI should be the preservation of cycling's traditional aspects,
then it should be to keep the machines current with the marketplace... that is, to always keep
racing bikes in line with the modest bikes that a normal consumer would be able to buy...
Sort of like IROC for cars. Every driver/rider gets exactly the same frame, wheels, box of parts.
May the better skilled and able win. Sorry, the sport needs it's sponsors unless the teams switch
over to the model of most modern sports. A big team based out of a city or region which collects
money on tickets (VIP maybe?), endorsements, TV, etc.
Quoted message said:i just dont see anything wrong, or backwards in this... the rider comes before the bike... the
integrity of the sport comes before some nut-ball bike design whose only real goal is "brand
differentiation"... it is not the technology that makes the races exciting to fans world wide.. it
is the riders... the normal european cycling fan doesnt know very much about bikes anyway...a lot
of us forget that the well-educated tech savy cyclist/cycling fan here in the USA is very very far
from a typical cycling fan in any other part of the world... in france and belgium, for instance,
they more resemble NASCAR fans... cycling fans outside of the "too smart for my own britches" type
that we tend to be here dont even know what the hell the UCI is!...
I know what my spine and legs tell me. The rest is fiddling with adjustments, cleaning and
maintaining. A better built bike lasts longer when the miles are long. It also doesn't hurt to be
hauling your carcass up a 15% grade on a 17.5 lb bike rather than a 25 lb one.
Quoted message said:RBR is the reason that specialized sponsors mario... but "tout-les-jours Jaques" is the reason the
Brioches La Boulangere sponsors a bunch of guys you never heard of... maybe RBR types love a silly
lookin wonderbike that their wife would never let them buy, but Jaques looks at that thing and
goes "what
Quoted message said:international cycling, or are all the hard working union guys in western europe?...
As Peugeot (the brand) illustrated, Jaques will buy what his favorite pro is riding, even if that
pro secretly knows it rides like [censored]. Each sponsor has different expectations. ONCE was going for
visibility, which they got then departed, what's wrong with that?
RBR as the backbone of national or international cycling is like suggesting a flock of Canada geese
heading south are responsible for the weather.
The survival of cycling as a sport requires a Janus. Someone like LeBlanc who retrieves a few
nuggets of the past to underscore tradition, but look to setting regulations and race calendars to
balance the sport and maximize its exposure.
