Velo Digest: Plastic Bikes, Outrageous TT Helmet Designs, Maxing Out On Caffeine, & More

 Or as you call it over there, breakfast

 And it's got the added benefit of you wanting to die when you're coming down, so you're always getting more which means peak mental conditions for racing all the time!

 Meth is called gravel, so there's already a connection.

 Listen there’s a real synergy at play with meth and erythropoietin. It’s like squeezing the syrup out of the bottle rather than letting gravity do all the work.

 Pretty sure they did in the early days of the Tour de France or at least cocaine.

 @93EXCivic: In the 1967 Tour de France, Tom Simpson died while ascending Mt. Ventoux. Autopsy revealed alcohol and amphetamines.

 @93EXCivic: “Cocaine is a hell of a drug.” - Rick James R.I.P.

 @barp: meth, cigarettes and espresso were common

 Anything to reduce aerodynamic resistance on cyclists (or humans for that matter) is going to look odd more or less.

 Just put dolphins on bikes and call it done already.

 @L0rdTom: They have a way to high red blood count to pass any kind of test though.

 That helmet isn't for you or me. You aren't going to see that on your Saturday bakery ride anytime soon, and if you do, I would 100% expect every other rider to laugh at the idiot who shows up wearing it. That helmet is for a time trial, period. And really just for time trials at the elite level, where every microwatt matters. And if you think any Jumbo Visma rider is worried about being labeled "weird," well, their paychecks will more than compensate for that. Lastly, I will just say that any human willing to do what it takes to complete a Tour is far, far, far beyond "weird" in any sense of the word, so honestly the helmet just helps them look the part.

 It's a sport like any other, of course people are gonna take it f*cking seriously! the sport of cycling isn't just for @mountainpike to get fitter

 @thustlewhumber: Well, this is goes right down to the very question of what people are competing for in the first place. If a technological development gives a competitive advantage without requiring any adaptation from the athlete, what or who are we comparing? Considering riding bikes inherently requires gear, it never is purely athlete against athlete, it is also team against team competing with technologies and sciences. Most notable in road (and track) cycling would probably be weight saving and aerodynamic drag reduction. So yeah, in this particular instance it would be the aerodynamicists contracted by Jumbo/Visma against those of other teams.

There are cycling disciplines which are less about the latest and greatest gear and sciences and more about the rider, but then you'd be looking at flatland, street BMX and pumptrack riding. But as for mountainbike riding, saving crank weight isn't any less odd than the pear-helmet. Unless the helmet, due to the size and shape, increases the risk of concussion. Then they're missing the point of what a helmet is for in the first place.

 Asking professional athletes to not take it seriously is a weird comment... Time trial will always look stupid, there is little point in trying to prevent that. There are two things that are actually objectionable about those helmets:

1. Seems very unsafe. Yes, they probably pass some standard, but we all know that helmet standards are pretty inadequate. Rotating forces on the head are a big driver in brain injury, but not really tested for and they'd have to pull of some miracle to have such a large helmet that doesn't wildly twist your head on impact.
2. UCI pre-approved the designs and then suddenly backpedals once there is a negative reaction. Pretty bad look for a governing body, at least sit it out for this year and then make a rule change, maybe after an actual investigation into helmet safety?

 Why make allowances for time trial kit and bikes at all? Just make them race on normal UCI legal bikes and kit that are regulated for aesthetics and safety? Everyone is under the same ruleset so it's still as good racing.

 @L0rdTom: Regulations for aesthetics, who will be the certified fashionista who determines what looks good and what doesn't? It goes without saying that we will all (bicycle riders and keyboard riders) agree with said expert.

 @L0rdTom: just make bikes dolphin shaped and call it done already.

(As a side benefit, the UCI will throw a tantrum so big it'll finally destroy the organisation)

 I'm going to need that helmet in a fleshy pink design, thanks

 I think about this episode daily and always get a little chuckle from how goofy this idea was... the best daytime kids show there ever was

 @waldo-jpg: Yes, great show. But it wasn't relegated to daytime; it always ran in an evening timeslot. The show had 33 nominations and 7 wins at the Primetime Emmys.

 @barp: late answer... it was a daytime show in Germany. It ran between 12 and 2pm on a youth oriented channel most of the time.

 They will if it makes em go faster...

 must be new here? cyclists. an yes I include MTB'ers in that generalisation... will pay ANYTHING for marginal gains......

 there's definitely no real intention of selling it. In UCI road racing, all gear must be publicly available products that anyone can purchase. There are some exceptions they can apply for under a "prototyping" phase, but the expectation is that it will be available to purchase by the public. For that reason, you see some completely bizarre shit (mostly in the TT space) that is "priced" at an outrageous amount. I think there is a $6000 skinsuit floating around. The goal obviously is to make it available, but not actually produce/sell any of them.

 You're not amongst roadies very often, are you?

 "Bike looks nice otherwise". LSD is one helluva drug.

 @commental: Alright alright, the wheel design isn't the most suitable for the production method of choice and I can't quite approve of the way the fork splits before it meets the handlebar in two spots. Keeping them together as a single plane in front of the headtube would probably be stronger as well. But seeing you disapprove of a bike merely because off such minor details seems a bit harsh. You're sure you've taken the correct drug?

 @commental: i think it looks sick, like a sport motorbike crossed with a ebike. Of course I would rather by a sportbike, but it still looks cool.

 @DJ21111111: By looks I wasn't primarily aiming at the aestetics and marketability of this bike. From what I understand, it was intended as a concept study to try and minimize the use of metals in a bike and design it such that it can be rotomolded. I've seen an injection molded frame before but the downside of that technique is that you'd end up with all those external stiffeners and because of the open shape it won't really be stiff. Rotomolding is a nice method in that it gives you a closed shape and mold costs can be lower (than for injection molding) though the big elephant is that the process is slow which implies it occupies the mold (and the facilities) for a longer time. Either way, what they've done well there is that obviously they need a larger shape to achieve the required stiffness (as the material itself isn't as stiff as aluminum, let alone steel). But the radius of the edges influences the wall thickness. Imagine these sharp convex edges as lines where the wallthickness is larger and you get an idea of how the loads are guided. Sharp concave edges in turn would cause a thin local wall thickness which would be a weak area. But I can't see any here, so that's well done.

 @DJ21111111: Are you sure you aren't referring to the kangaroo with wings? That looks far more like a sports motorbike than the Igus, which looks like it came out of a Kinder Egg.

 @commental: I'm thinking that as well. Kinder egg describes that hideous thing perfectly.

 that reminds me........ I got some clouds to go scream at

 @naptime: Where? I'm coming with

 electronic downcountry bike with internal cable routing enters the chat...

 @DJ21111111: to be fair, electronic upcountry bikes with external cable routing are already a thing (but require a paid pass to use before going down again)