More pro cycling controversy

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Permalink Reply by Vondo on June 2, 2010 at 11:07pm

Say it ain't so! I thought his win in Paris-Roubaix was one of the most exciting displays in cycling in a while. If this is how he did it, I am swearing off following pro cycling forever...

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Permalink Reply by Tank-Ridin' Ryan on June 2, 2010 at 11:15pm

*groans*

Does Team Saxo Bank even use Shimano Hollowtech II?

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Permalink Reply by Michael Perz on June 2, 2010 at 11:50pm

Those allegations are baloney. I've seen rumors of mechanical assistance in races but at best it would only be useful in long stretches to allow a rider to recover during a stage. The amount of torque exerted in a sustained attack like that (uphill on cobbles???) would require something the size of a car battery to power and much more than just two 4mm screws to secure.

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Permalink Reply by S on June 3, 2010 at 12:58am

In the video, the motor is pretty loud. I'm sure Tom Boonen or someone else would have heard the distinctive whine from the motor if it was been used. Also, Saxo Bank uses SRAM red components so the motor in the video is not compatible. Finally, where was the battery for the motor? The video says that battery replaces the saddle bag on a bike, except that the race bikes don't have a saddle bag.

Oh, I forgot but Cancellara swapped his bike out on Paris Roubaix due to mechanical issues and I think he did the same thing in Flanders. So unless Saxo Bank had a bunch of juiced bikes in the support vehicles, it's unlike there was a motor on the bike that Cancellara accelerated away on.

It seems much more likely that Cancellara just shifted to a higher gear before accelerating. The flick when using a DoubleTap shifter isn't that big and might have been missed on the video.

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Permalink Reply by Kevin Mulcky on June 3, 2010 at 9:15am

I think this controversy is just a distasteful attempt at viral marketing by the company that produces the Gruber Assist device.

Well, I hope it is.

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Permalink Reply by Chris L on June 3, 2010 at 9:36am

This should be easy to detect, the motor and batteries would increase the weight of the bike. Simply listing its components weight, freely available on the manufacturer's websites, would give the expected weight of the bike. Then weigh the bike post race and compare the results.

the motor seems to make noise so concealing that would also add weight, or someone would hear the whine of the motor, maybe not over the roar of the crowd, but on the quiet country roads, it should be noticeable.

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