Cancellara Hour Record bid on ice as UCI mulls rule changes

I'll repeat it again, I don't know who wrote this piece but none of them will be slowed to use either a road or time-trial bike on the track. The choice at the moment is whether to go for the 'Athlete Hour' on a steel-tubed frame with lo-profile wheels & drop handlebars or to go for the 'Absolute Hour' on a legal track pursuit bike. Both are fixed gear, no brake machines because they are TRACK bikes. So shut up with talk of 9.9's, Dogma's, Bolide's, Shiv's & Venge's. Ok?

I recommend a read of Michael Hutchinson's book on his attempt at the hour. There is a lot of detail about what a Merckx style bike is (not really a regular track bike), and how incredibly difficult it is to source a bike that complies with the rules in these times.

It's not the bike anyway, it's far more about the position.

In that regard I don't see what the issue is with allowing newer adaptations. Learning more about airflow and drag is part of modern development in all areas of cycling so why not encourage more of it.

How is that any different to learning more about diet or training and using those to improve times?

It was a stupid idea to try to freeze the record. Nobody would argue it diminishes Merckx's achievements any more than we would say Roger Bannister was a rubbish runner because he wouldn't make an Olympic final these days. He did it in his time and of his time, and times change.

Track bike for the track, do trek make a 9.9SSC for the track??

There is no way Wiggins would use a Dogma or Martin a Venge - why the hell would they turn up with a bike loaded with gears that they will never use during the event?

Not to mention the bottom bracket location on a typical road frame greatly increases the likelihood of pedal strikes on the banked corners.

If a bike were invented that allowed you to ride farther than Merckx in a hour would that make you better than Merckx? Sounds silly...
That is exactly what we are talking about here. Merckx (drugs or no drugs (and don't believe that the current crop is clean)) was the greatest cyclist in all of history. It is fitting that the technological arms race ends with him for at least the hour record. The hour is the perfect device to compare cyclists across the ages. Keeping technology out of it makes good sense.
Fabian clearly wants to mark his place in history and has with his classics wins. But if he wants to write his name as better than Merckx then let him battle him on even terms. Not a battle through technological means. Don't give Merckx the chance to say what he said when Moser set the new mark aboard a totally different machine- "for the first time a weaker man has taken the record from a stronger man."

It seems odd that a legal, pursuit bike can't be used for the hour. Just make it the same as the current track rules and stop buggering about.

Oh and it must be set at Calshot.

Why would Wiggins et al be competing on modern road bikes if the rules don't change? Surely they would be just as unacceptable as a modern TT bike? (Also surely any attempt -whether Merkxx style or using modern technology - would have to be on a fixed bike anyway to be track legal?)

Why not just start fresh, design a brand new bike which can be used for the next 20 years to attempt this record, but on the same bike frame, with the same components (obviously different sizes)http://road.cc/sites/all/modules/smileys/packs/Yahoo!/smile.gif

sorry if anyone else has said this but really can't be bothered to check everyones comments!http://road.cc/sites/all/modules/smileys/packs/Yahoo!/yawn.gifhttp://roa...

The mentioned changes would not only affect a bicycle design but also the very specific preparations for a record attempt. It takes months to adapt to such bike. I suppose this might be more of concern considering one is to sacrifice good part of the season.

Skating on Ice.
More like.

The Dogma and Venge couldn't be used because the bikes are required to have tubes with a circular cross section.

Surely Wiggo would be on one of the secret squirrel bikes, like the olympics?

Cookson, shut up! No rule change needed - just choose which hour record to go for. Sounds like Spartacus had decided on the official record and was happy with the rules. I'd love to see him smash it on a 'traditional' track bike!

Seems like a totally unnecessary change, especially given the Best Human Effort category and current interest in the Hour mentioned above. Also disrespectful to Boardman and Obree, whose efforts in the 90's were stricken from the books.

But. The rules have not changed yet. Do it now!
If the rules change later on, the record will be forever.

Even if you can't create a level playing field, does that mean you shouldn't try minimise equipment differences? Just because you can't completely make things equal, therefore anything should go - let the engineers run riot?

Thing is, it's a false dichotomy. Because the "anything goes" categories *already exist* - in two forms even! The "Best Human Effort" category, which allows tri-bikes, and the really-anything-goes HPV one, which Obree went for recently. So let the athletes who want that go for whichever of those *already existing* categories they want!

Why change the rules on the Athlete's record to make it less about the athlete? Makes absolutely no sense to me.

Why is it that anything involving the UCI seems to involve a lot of arguing before anything remotely exciting can happen? I don't disagree with Cookson's point of view that using modern track bikes would result in more record attempts - riders train for efforts like this in the specific position they'll be using, and if the only time they use that position is for an hour record, they won't bother.

But at the same time, we were building back up to a bit of interest in the hour WITHOUT revising the rules again - all of Cancellara, Wiggins and Martin had said they fancied a go. And just as the interest level rises and it looks like we might get some competition going again, the UCI decides to look again at the rules and slow the whole thing down. Very frustrating.

As for the comments about having a single bike produced by the UCI: one factor in riders having a go at this is sponsor interest. If their sponsor couldn't give a toss, they won't be given the time to do it. But if their sponsor thinks they can find some small gains and get some good publicity out of it, their interest level tends to go up. So I'm all for having a clear set of requirements, but also all in favour of bike manufacturers doing whatever they can to find the limits within those guidelines. Boardman did it, and he doesn't get criticized for it - why shouldn't the others do the same?

What level playing field? Merckx, by his own admission, did not compete in compliance with modern anti-doping rules. His Hour belongs to a bygone era.
So I think Cookson is right to start a "new" Hour, with clean(ish) athletes and modern(ish) bikes.

How about someone nips down the nearest Halford/Evans etc and buys a bike and helmet for less than two grand and they have to use that.
Only changes allowed are replacement of pedals, if fitted, with cyclist's own and adjustment to seat post height, saddle for and aft and stem height. All other fitments, including bell, wheel reflectors, front and rear reflectors to remain.
All attempts to be made on one selected velodrome track.
Whatever the result becomes to new 'Unified World Hour Record', sanctioned by UCI.
Result levelled playing field, simplified equipment and no more arguing and whingeing.

"...Mike Burrows’ Lotus bike, used by Chris Boardman..."
Pedant alert! I believe Boardman never officially set the record on a Lotus bike. He used a Corima for the first ride and, a little ironically, given the later rule changes, an Eddy Merckx for the second. Okay ,the Merckx was a Lotus bike painted blue with Merckx stickers....
I guess that means that Eddy himself had no objections to the technological developments if his name was on them!

So long as it is clearly stated which hour record he is going for; what's the problem?

The principle is fine, but the result even with the current athletes hour rules were i) Very few attempts made ii) Trek throwing cash at a team of a dozen people to find the gains the rules still do not rule out.

This is ridiculous. There is *still* a "modern" hour record category with the UCI, it's called the "Best Human Effort". If Cancellara wants to do the record on a modern bike, he can simply go for that category - *without any rule changes*!

Personally, I think it's a *good* thing to try minimise equipment differences in cycling. Track and road cycling, as a sport, is about the people for me.

If I want to watch the end-result of engineers competing behind the scenes, running their CFD simulations, I'd go look at Formula 1. Except of course, I gave up watching Formula 1 cause I kept falling asleep!

Pretty certain Tony Martin rides a Specialized...

I genuinely scoured the article for new evidence of ice being a super low-resistance performance material.

I am thick and tired.

Personally, I'd like to see three hour records.

An "athlete's hour", using a standard bike built by the UCI (to avoid all this special development silliness), a "Romminger hour" (which is most likely to attract attempts) and an "open hour" (where they can use a recumbent with an enclosed fairing).