Tag: UCI

SAUR-SOJASUN Team to Use ROTOR Components

The Continental SAUR SOJASUN Team will be riding with ROTOR Bike Components for 2011 it has been announced. These include the company’s unique and innovative components including the Q-Ring oval chainrings, 3D+ cranks and BB30 bottom brackets, as well as chain-catchers and race-plate holders.

The revolutionary shaped Q-Rings have the promise of increasing power by maximizing the use of efficient zones of the pedaling stroke and reducing the intensity of the “dead spot” zones, while helping reduce joint and tendon loadings. The 3D+ cranks are 100 percent compatible with any BB30 or Class BAS threaded frame on the market.

ROTOR will be sharing the sponsorship with French bike manufacturer TIME. “France is one of our leading markets, in which we have quite a number of fans and high customer fidelity, so we want to thank them for this support by sponsoring one of the country’s leading teams,” said  Ignacio Estellés, ROTOR CEO, during the contract signature in Rennes. “A strong professional team, well placed in the 2010 UCI rankings – above some ProTour teams – is a new proving ground for our technologies, increasing the brand´s fame and customer’s confidence in our products.”

ROTOR Official Website

Will Disc Brakes Change Cyclocross?

Our friends at BikeRadar.com asked an interesting question recently, whether disc brakes would be the future of cyclocross. As we recently reviewed the new Redline Team Conquest cyclocross bike this is something that we’ve been thinking about as well. While the braking is good with the cyclocross bike it doesn’t quite have the same feel as a true mountain bike, especially in more technical off-road conditions. This has remained a common complaint amongst many riders, with the question being asked how much better disc brakes would make the bike. Continue reading Will Disc Brakes Change Cyclocross?

UCI Cracking Down on Doped Bikes

After winning the Paris-Roubaix and the Tour of Flanders Swiss rider Fabian Cancellara came under the spotlight. Not for doping, but rather for using a motor hidden within the bicycle frame. Cancellara has since laughed off the allegations, but apparently not everyone is laughing.

Cycling has taken some bad hits as many high profile riders have been accused of using – and unfortunately even caught using – performance enhancing drugs. But this latest twist is probably one no one saw coming. This week the International Cycling Union, the sports governing body, announced that “a scanner will be used from the time of the Tour de France.” Such a scanner would further bolster “measures that have already been put in place, in particular the visual inspection of bicycles.”

The UCI it has been reported has been in contact with former racers, including Davide Cassani and Chris Boardman. The formers claims that a bike equipped with a concealed motor could help a ride cheat, and that if he were using such a device at 49-years old he’d be able to finish a classic or a Giro stage. We are a bit dubious to say the least. The latter even wrote an editorial for The Telegraph, explaining how the technology could work.

While there have been endless technological upgrades to bicycles in the 100+ years since the founding of the UCI, the idea of a hidden motor to aid a racer seems to be more trouble than it would be worth. Such a motor would need a large power source – one that would add weight to the bike, although Boardman says it is a moot point since bikes come in under weight anyway – and it would need to be reliable. Boardman again offers the opinion that the energy source would be enough to power a motor that in turn could help provide riders with a way to “take a break.” But is this really enough? Riders are pretty much on camera from beginning to end, and sitting on a bike and “faking” the pedaling is a lot of work.

The proper gearing, drafting from other riders and various riding techniques are what already give riders that little bit of edge. Would a mini-motor – something else that could break down – really be worth it? That’s not to say that we encourage anyone to try, so let’s hope that the sport stays clean. And that is with both the riders and the bikes.

No Flying Scotsman Tricks for the Track

Track bike racing could turn into an off-the-shelf sport soon, as the International Cycling Union (UCI) announced plans to force teams to use equipment that is commercially available. UCI chief Pat McQuaid noted that Britain, Germany and Australia – three track bike powerhouses – have been warned this past weekend that the use of illegal technological advances will not be tolerated, and that he had concerns about the way some teams continued to flout rules while using expensive equipment that is (in his words) “not commercially available.”

This is reminiscent of when Graeme Obree – a.k.a. “The Flying Scotsman – built a homemade bike and broke the one hour distance record on the track. In Obree’s case the bike wasn’t so high-tech as it was just ingenious, utilizing parts of a washing machine for the bottom bracket, but the fallout was a crackdown on equipment that wasn’t standard. McQuaid has not defined what is actually meant by “freely available” nor “reasonable price” when discussing the new rules, so there will no doubt be questions raised.

But as some teams were riding on bicycle prototypes that cost between 50,000 and 100,000 Euros each, we have to agree that while technology should help athletes, the playing field needs to be level. In this case, even if the track the competition takes place on is banked!