E-bikes are a thing

[Ironjunk]

when they say watts they mean peak. still 500w peak is a lot the motor is more likely 250w. They would likely be microdosing the power to be more fresh for the sprint.

 

[Captain Brainstorm]

reading that...its complete crap....the ONLY evidence is a TT bike weighing 800gms more than...they don't even say what...the lightest bike? What if they compared the weight of Froomes bike vs Quintanas bike? Slightly different sizes lol. And of course Lemond is involved.....by this time they were checking the bikes after all the accusations against contador....and ANYONE with the most basic mechanical knowledge could find a motor, drive mechanisms, batteries, activation switches etc on something as small as a road bike if they were looking.

And then read this crap from the other article.
The motors weigh around 800 grams and have 500W of power, enough to leave a cyclist's competitors dragging behind.
The motor has a cylinder engine and is found in one of the bike's tubes. It is connected to the gears through wires and, once activated, starts to power the pedals.

In armstrongs time, you werent hiding this stuff in a frame....I mean its not like lance was some scrub who suddenly won the tour...he was already great, then enhanced himself to be unbeatable. If it was the 40th place guy suddenly riding off the front, ok....thats pretty weird. And these dumb writers throw these numbers around that they have no idea what they even means....500w motors!!!! Lance was said to have a 30min power of around 500w...so adding 500ws to this.......Ill put it this way....If I am doing a 20min set...the difference between me averaging 325w vs 350w would be about 1mph in the average speed of the set....thats 25w...now add in 500w, he would look like he was in a benny hill skit.

LeMond is a troll, I don't know why he's so bitter (maybe because Lance took his title of best American rider ever?), but he needs to go away. He also conveniently comes from the time when everyone could get away with murder when it came to cheating. For all the reasons that you mentioned, cheating with a motor is not feasible just because of the inspection these bikes go through, its a very heavy-handed way to cheat. There are so many more clever ways to cheat, lest anyone is naive enough think that no one cheats anymore in any professional sport (and amateur).

 

[serviceguy]

reading that...its complete crap....the ONLY evidence is a TT bike weighing 800gms more than...they don't even say what...the lightest bike? What if they compared the weight of Froomes bike vs Quintanas bike? Slightly different sizes lol. And of course Lemond is involved.....by this time they were checking the bikes after all the accusations against contador....and ANYONE with the most basic mechanical knowledge could find a motor, drive mechanisms, batteries, activation switches etc on something as small as a road bike if they were looking.

And then read this crap from the other article.
The motors weigh around 800 grams and have 500W of power, enough to leave a cyclist's competitors dragging behind.
The motor has a cylinder engine and is found in one of the bike's tubes. It is connected to the gears through wires and, once activated, starts to power the pedals.

In armstrongs time, you werent hiding this stuff in a frame....I mean its not like lance was some scrub who suddenly won the tour...he was already great, then enhanced himself to be unbeatable. If it was the 40th place guy suddenly riding off the front, ok....thats pretty weird. And these dumb writers throw these numbers around that they have no idea what they even means....500w motors!!!! Lance was said to have a 30min power of around 500w...so adding 500ws to this.......Ill put it this way....If I am doing a 20min set...the difference between me averaging 325w vs 350w would be about 1mph in the average speed of the set....thats 25w...now add in 500w, he would look like he was in a benny hill skit.

I was reading your earlier comment and remembered about someone using a small electric motor hidden in the frame when running the TDF. I actually recently watched a news video showing a bike with a small hidden motor, nothing e-bike level, just providing a little edge when needed but supposedly making a huge difference. When I googled it I found only those two links which I thought kind of related to your comment, I didn't do any in-depth vetting...

It may have been some other major road competition though...

https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/...banned-belgian-cyclist-revealed-by-uci-222620

 

[UtahJoe]

when they say watts they mean peak. still 500w peak is s lot the motor is more likely 250w.

still, 250w....thats 50% more than his 30min power....that would be a mind blowing difference.

The "evidence" is that he did something amazing.....like I can't think of a single sport where this doesnt happen all the time....football, baseball, motocross, etc etc....thats what the top person usually does. like I get that these people are saltly that he cheated and won, but I have trouble believing the motor thing....I mean get some evidence other than he beat us.

 

[Patrick]

still, 250w....thats 50% more than his 30min power....that would be a mind blowing difference.

The "evidence" is that he did something amazing.....like I can't think of a single sport where this doesnt happen all the time....football, baseball, motocross, etc etc....thats what the top person usually does. like I get that these people are saltly that he cheated and won, but I have trouble believing the motor thing....I mean get some evidence other than he beat us.

think you know this -

what is needed is incremental power -

if everyone on the pointy end is in a range, then an additional, sustained 25w on a climb would make all the difference.
25W is .03 horsepower. motor would be tiny, spin it in with a bendix so normally not engaged - no drag.

after that is the battery pack - which is rated in how many watts it can sustain for an hour
a li-ion 18650 (which would fit in a tube) might be able to produce 10W for an hour. (might)
Throw in 5 of them for a couple hours worth of incremental boost.

The tour adds weight to bikes to make them legal - may as well be a battery pack.

 

[rick81721]

think you know this -

what is needed is incremental power -

if everyone on the pointy end is in a range, then an additional, sustained 25w on a climb would make all the difference.
25W is .03 horsepower. motor would be tiny, spin it in with a bendix so normally not engaged - no drag.

after that is the battery pack - which is rated in how many watts it can sustain for an hour
a li-ion 18650 (which would fit in a tube) might be able to produce 10W for an hour. (might)
Throw in 5 of them for a couple hours worth of incremental boost.

The tour adds weight to bikes to make them legal - may as well be a battery pack.

This video is almost 7 years old

 

[Steve Vai]

when they say watts they mean peak. still 500w peak is a lot the motor is more likely 250w. They would likely be microdosing the power to be more fresh for the sprint.

Fabien's FTP was 575 watts so he wouldn't even get assist from an ebike motor.

 

[UtahJoe]

think you know this -

what is needed is incremental power -

if everyone on the pointy end is in a range, then an additional, sustained 25w on a climb would make all the difference.
25W is .03 horsepower. motor would be tiny, spin it in with a bendix so normally not engaged - no drag.

after that is the battery pack - which is rated in how many watts it can sustain for an hour
a li-ion 18650 (which would fit in a tube) might be able to produce 10W for an hour. (might)
Throw in 5 of them for a couple hours worth of incremental boost.

The tour adds weight to bikes to make them legal - may as well be a battery pack.

I agree, but thats not what these accusers are saying....they are giving specific examples of an extra 800 grams, and 500w motors....you are going so spend thousands of dollars for a 25w boost? seems crazy.....like lets factor in the unbelievable embarrassment that a team like SKY would suffer if caught using motors...which I still maintain, would be SUPER easy to find. Even if you put a motor in a hub....how much battery power are you putting in a hub...especially in Lance's day when even the powermeter hubs needed wires. I think it would be easier to have the rider cheat himself to an extra 25w using drugs and the team would have some plausible deniability.

 

[UtahJoe]

I would add that for this to work the teams mechanics would have to know about it.....there is nothing on a TDF bike that a team mechanic is not looking at.....They would not be the designer or installer of these devices, yet they would be responsible for maintaining them.....So essentially, they would be in the know, and if they were in fact SO crucial to the teams ability to win races....They would be putting pressure on these mechanics to make sure these things worked perfectly....Most mechanics I know would react with: excuse me...You put this piece of shit cheat device on my otherwise perfectly working bike...Now I have to deal with it??? EAT A DICK! And like everything else on your bike it would need to be tweaked/maintained. I find it hard to believe that in all of these years not ONE mechanical has ever come forward...Meantime countless riders come forward and rat on each other and themselves about drug use. What reason would lances or froomes mechanic have to keep secrets now and NOT take a payday from these news agencies. I dont see it.

 

[Ironjunk]

Fabien's FTP was 575 watts so he wouldn't even get assist from an ebike motor.

You must mean 475. I would hardly believe someone can do 575 for 20 min.

 

[tonyride]

I ride for fun.

 

[Steve Vai]

You must mean 475. I would hardly believe someone can do 575 for 20 min.

Either way that motor ain't doing shit.

 

[Patrick]

Either way that motor ain't doing shit.

they are software limited - you know that.

 

[Steve Vai]

they are software limited - you know that.

Mechanically limited.

 

[Patrick]

Mechanically limited.

?

it cuts out when producing 500w or exceeds xMPH ?
So it doesn't start on fire?

still, it could be used to incrementally add power at any rider input.

 

[Cassinonorth]

You must mean 475. I would hardly believe someone can do 575 for 20 min.

FTP is the theoretical limit of an hour effort. It would equate to a person doing 605 watts for 20 minutes.

 

[Steve Vai]

?

it cuts out when producing 500w or exceeds xMPH ?
So it doesn't start on fire?

still, it could be used to incrementally add power at any rider input.

It's only 250 watts, after that you put out more power than the motor and it just shuts down. It's not added to what you put in. That's why I sold my Vado.

 

[Patrick]

It's only 250 watts, after that you put out more power than the motor and it just shuts down. It's not added to what you put in. That's why I sold my Vado.

but it could - it is software (or a clutch?) shutting it down.
consider us trying to lift a car - you put in your lift, and mine (no matter how small) would be added to it.

 

[rick81721]

but it could - it is software (or a clutch?) shutting it down.
consider us trying to lift a car - you put in your lift, and mine (no matter how small) would be added to it.

Forger it - it's a moot point. Pros can't get away with it. Amateur schmoe racers are free to cheat mechanically and biologically

 

[Patrick]

Forger it - it's a moot point. Pros can't get away with it. Amateur schmoe racers are free to cheat mechanically and biologically

motors in the pedal spindles.