My "friend's bike" turns into 6 year ban

Now we have something / quite-a-lot to discuss and celebrate.
mercalia
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banned for having an electric motor and blue tooth switch

Post by mercalia »

wow just heard on the 6 0'clock news that a lady cyclist with a name I can't pronounce or spell, has just been banned for having an electric motor and blue tooth switch under her handle bars. I think this was mooted a short time ago here, but not the ban which was then not decided.
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gaz
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Re: banned for having an electric motor and blue tooth swit

Post by gaz »

Femke Van den Driessche, banned from cycle racing by UCI.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/36142963
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mercalia
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Re: banned for having an electric motor and blue tooth swit

Post by mercalia »

presumably it can be appealed? seems an aweful stupid thing to do, like having forbidden drug packets in ones pockets?
old_windbag
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Re: banned for having an electric motor and blue tooth swit

Post by old_windbag »

Putting aside the "cheating" aspect of whats been done here. The tech benefits for motor integration and smaller batteries etc will flow through to road bikes for mere mortals offsetting say performance decline with age. Not for competition use clearly, just everyday cycling. We need to move to making any electrical assist as light and small as is practical for the amount of assist available. So not all negative.
fishfright
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My "friend's bike" turns into 6 year ban

Post by fishfright »

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/cycling/36142963

First of many no doubt. It amazes me how the teams apparently never seem to know about this kind of thing * or doping etc .

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reohn2
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Re: banned for having an electric motor and blue tooth swit

Post by reohn2 »

old_windbag wrote:Putting aside the "cheating" aspect of whats been done here. The tech benefits for motor integration and smaller batteries etc will flow through to road bikes for mere mortals offsetting say performance decline with age. Not for competition use clearly, just everyday cycling. We need to move to making any electrical assist as light and small as is practical for the amount of assist available. So not all negative.


I agree,as the technology becomes more refined the weight and size will diminish.

As for the athlete in question,her career is up the Swanee,it's her and her team's fault as no such cheating is a one person effort.
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NATURAL ANKLING
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Re: My "friend's bike" turns into 6 year ban

Post by NATURAL ANKLING »

Hi,
Mechanical doping...........six years... :?
So Medical doping gets you what...........a smack.........
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mercalia
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Re: banned for having an electric motor and blue tooth swit

Post by mercalia »

I wonder how durable those BB motors are? would have to stand up to a lot of punishment over thousands of miles to be of any value?
reohn2
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Re: My "friend's bike" turns into 6 year ban

Post by reohn2 »

NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
Mechanical doping...........six years... :?
So Medical doping gets you what...........a smack.........


Explain? :?
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Si
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Re: My "friend's bike" turns into 6 year ban

Post by Si »

reohn2 wrote:
NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
Mechanical doping...........six years... :?
So Medical doping gets you what...........a smack.........


Explain? :?


I think that he means that the sentences are disproportionate: they are both cheating but using drugs is much more harmful* yet often only brings a ban of a couple of years.


*i.e. not only can it harm the health of the taker but can encourage others to follow suit and become harmed.
reohn2
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Re: My "friend's bike" turns into 6 year ban

Post by reohn2 »

Si wrote:
reohn2 wrote:
NATURAL ANKLING wrote:Hi,
Mechanical doping...........six years... :?
So Medical doping gets you what...........a smack.........


Explain? :?


I think that he means that the sentences are disproportionate: they are both cheating but using drugs is much more harmful* yet often only brings a ban of a couple of years.


*i.e. not only can it harm the health of the taker but can encourage others to follow suit and become harmed.


I see,feeling a bit dopey this morning..... ....that's dopey,not doped you understand :wink:
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Postboxer
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Re: My "friend's bike" turns into 6 year ban

Post by Postboxer »

So her 'friend' was a cheater, left their bike in the truck and a mechanic just thought it was hers, wouldn't it be set up differently? Or did the mechanic do all that too, setting the saddle to just the right height etc. without questioning why it was different. Did her friend testify to this? Did she name the friend?
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Re: My "friend's bike" turns into 6 year ban

Post by Mark1978 »

Postboxer wrote:So her 'friend' was a cheater, left their bike in the truck and a mechanic just thought it was hers, wouldn't it be set up differently? Or did the mechanic do all that too, setting the saddle to just the right height etc. without questioning why it was different. Did her friend testify to this? Did she name the friend?


The UCI heard testimony from all involved. It seems they weren't convinced by the 'friends bike' argument. It seems to revolve around the idea that there had been an additional bluetooth trigger added to the motor, such that there didn't need to be a hidden button to activate the motor, it could be done by someone standing in the pits or in the crowd.

I understand from GMBN/GCN's testing of the motor involved that it simply spins the cranks at 150W and disengages when you stop pedalling so has to be reactivated each time, so less sophisticated than a normal pedal assist bike, but obviously designed to be hidden.
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Re: My "friend's bike" turns into 6 year ban

Post by landsurfer »

Electric bikes defiantly have their place for older and infirm riders of all ages.
My wife would love one.
But remember they are motorbikes.
Not bicycles, motorbikes.
I was in my LBS last month and saw two obviously fit young men picking up their electric mountain bikes ....... at a price that they could have bought Trials Bikes, the ones with i.c. engines.
Don't get it ....
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reohn2
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Re: My "friend's bike" turns into 6 year ban

Post by reohn2 »

landsurfer wrote:Electric bikes defiantly have their place for older and infirm riders of all ages.
My wife would love one.
But remember they are motorbikes.
Not bicycles, motorbikes.
I was in my LBS last month and saw two obviously fit young men picking up their electric mountain bikes ....... at a price that they could have bought Trials Bikes, the ones with i.c. engines.
Don't get it ....


Well obviously you don't get,like you wouldn't a car with pedals :wink:
FWIW I don't get 170mph road going motorcycles or cars the size of small trucks,which is IMO,a more valid stand point than any complaint that can be put forward regarding pedelecs

The thing is that if someone doesn't want to get all sweaty going to work or going up a mountain on a bike s/he can eliminate that part of the equation by buying a pedelec,what's the problem,after all you could be truly puritanical and walk or run everywhere? :wink:
They're not motorcycles because they're restricted to 15mph and 250matts,for that reason they don't need number plates,a motorcycle helmet,MOT or thrid party insurance,because they're deemed(rightly IMO)to be as benign as a bi/tricycle.

Not everyone wants to cycle for the same reasons,there's an element of elitism or puritanism in thinking they do.
There are those who think pedelecs devalue cycling,they don't because there'll be lot's more of them on the roads in the next 5 to 10years than you'll ever believe and there's a distinct chance they'll replace the car for short <5mile journeys,because of that there's a good chance they'll make cycling more mainstream and acceptable and in will help cycling generally,because it won't be able to be ignored by government as a valid,handy,cheap,and environmentally clean/friendly means of transport especially in cities where pollution is at it's highest,whatever your age or ability.
Like it or not if they take off in the way they've done in the rest of Europe,they'll do UK cycling the biggest favour we've ever seen.

So don't knock what could be a cycling saviour :wink:
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