Carmichael at Boardman's Hour Preparation

[the other Steve Dennis]

But guess where????

Read this and 'Discover' what money means?
Thinking about it, if the UCI outlaws 'bikes' built specifically to beat the Hour record surely it will have a stance on this idea too?

Anyway I hope Discovery have a great year. Not because I have forgotten my roots and become American, but because of Yates, Hammond and everyone loves Hincapie.

Hi from a very snowy, incredibly cold NYC.

Steve

[the other Steve Dennis]

I have actually had time to think about it and realise I may have been hasty.

Ofcourse the whole point of building a new track is to make the fastest track in the world. Therefore OK.

Just seems a shame that it could be built solely for the attempt and then dismantled.
Lets just hope that if it is they rebuild it in a city for maximum use (hopefully NYC as we are screwed here and Texas has too much of everything anyway - especially Republicans).

[Elliot M]

hi steve

where's this article you're referring to... cyclingnews.com?

[Elliot M]

I don't think that lance would need a special velodrome to beat the record... one reason is that IIRC the kit used is a bit of a gentleman's agreement? correct me if i'm mistaken on this...

i know the superman/tuck positions/ monococque frames used by obree, boardman, rominger, indurain got banned, but boardman chose to use a steel bike, conventional drops position, ordinary spoked wheels and non-aero helmet to go back to the spirit of mercx's record (NB i was lucky enough to be there, in the middle of the track!) rather than being made to by the uci.

i don't think there wasn't anything in the rules preventing him or anyone else from using an aero bar, wheels or helmet. and given competitive pressure i can't see lance or others being quite as purist. even bladed forks, spokes or a semi-aero helmet would make it easier.

[the other Steve Dennis]

[url]http://www.cyclingnews.com/news.php?id=news/2005/jan05/jan27news[/url]

That's the latest on the HINT at the Hour Attempt from the folks at
[url]http://www.cyclingnews.com[/url]

Seems inevitable that he'll take the Athlete's Record, and a shame if he took the Absolute Record. I'm just being nostalgic.

"The current "absolute" hour record stands at 49.441km set by Chris Boardman on October 27, 2000, at a special session of the 2000 Track Cycling World Championships in Manchester, UK (see report). This "Absolute" record, as defined by the UCI, was set at near-sea level in the British city. The UCI has strict requirements on the technology that can be used, designed to resemble the type of bicycle that Eddy Merckx used when he set the 'hour' at 49.43915 km in Mexico City (at over 2400m altitude) on October 25, 1972.

While Boardman only marginally bettered Merckx's record by 10 metres, it was set at a much lower altitude and while difficult to quantify in terms of distance covered, the reduced air resistance of riding at altitude is considered a significant factor. (For example, all track cycling records now take altitude into account, with separate times for records above and below 1000m.)"


[img]http://www.cyclingnews.com/photos/2000/oct00/worldtrack/boardman2.jpg[/img]

[Snoop Doug]

What a feat by Boardman - if LA decided to have a crack at this in Manchester - I'd go see it, I'd probably take a bag of thumb tacks to skitter across the track if it starts getting close

Boardman had 2 bikes made for this attempt - the spare was auctioned on Ebay recently. Did anyone on here buy it and can I have a go..?

Snoop

[Elliot M]

Looking at the UCI site,

records: [url]http://www.uci.ch/modello.asp?1stlevelid=W&level1=2&level2=12&idnews=1571[/url]

rules: [url]http://www.uci.ch/modello.asp?1stLevelID=H&level1=0&level2=0&idnews=2676[/url]

It's all more complicated than I thought! Ignoring amateur and pre 1940 records, there are no less than 6 hour records! Doesn't really make it clear which records are considered open for new attempts.

2 are for indoor:

Moser holds the open air track, less than 600m altitude record at 49.8km
Moser holds the open air track, over 600m altitude record at 50.8km
then

Moser holds the indoor track record at 50.6km
This I think was set with different sized wheels so presumably closed?

Rominger holds the "1 hour" record at 55.3km
Boardman holds the "best hour performance" at 56.4km

So I guess the "1 hour" record is closed and effectively replaced wth the "best hour performance". Looks like a standard currently legal track bike is OK. But surely Boardman's bike would be illegal now?

Boardman holds the "absolute record" at 49.4km

Round frames tubes no more than 2.5cm diameter, traditional style bars, 16-32 spokes no more than 2mm across, rims cross section must fit in 2,2cm square, no aero helmet.

[Dan B]

I think the biggest hint is that he's brought the whole F-One team to bear on this.

It would seem reasonable that he could find and hold a peak long enough to have a crack at both the Athlete's Hour and "Funny-Looking Bike" hour as well, setting both, a fan would hope, out of reach for at least as long as Boardman has.

Definitely worth watching - might even make people in the US take notice. It's already in the New York Times ...

DB

[the other Steve Dennis]

And here is a write up I found at:

[url]http://www.trainright.com/page.asp?page_id=content&page_content=A-8&CategoryID=71&ArticleID=1381#article[/url]

well this is just a snippet,
[quote]As we?ve done with every challenge before this, we researched every angle of an Hour Record attempt, presented the information, provided guidance, and let Lance make his decision. With his recent decision to ride the Tour de France in 2005, my focus has already shifted to preparing him to race for a seventh yellow jersey. Yet, before I put my Hour Record files away, it?s interesting to take another look at the valuable information we gathered in the process of seriously researching an attempt on the Hour Record.

[Elliot M]

neither the frame, wheels nor helmet shown here would appear to be legal for the "absolute" record. it's a standard madone road frame, i think

i am still confused what kit is legal for the "best hour record" though???

[Elliot M]

[double posted]