C
Charles Hizark
Guest
"Carl Sundquist" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:<[email protected]>...
> "Kyle Legate" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:2idu9kFlj09lU1@uni-
> berlin.de...
> > > "TritonRider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > > news:[email protected]...
> > >>
> > >> The bike that Armstrong has dropped had been
> > >> specially designed by bike sponsor Trek and featured
> > >> a narrower bottom bracket shell in an effort to
> > >> reduce the overall frontal area of rider and bike. "
> > >
> > Doesn't this violate the spirit of the UCI rules, which
> > try to ensure that every athlete competes using more or
> > less the same equipment? By designing
> a
> > one-of-a-kind bike with a narrower BB shell, Trek is
> > creating equipment
> that
> > gives Lance an unfair technological advantage.
>
> As I said earlier, I don't know if Obree invented or
> merely popularized narrow BBs more than 10 years ago, but
> the concept has been laid out on the table for all to
> use. If Obree can fabricate a bike out of junkyard parts,
> then why can't a large corporation create essentially the
> same thing?
I believe that Cinelli and or the Raleigh developed the
narrow bottom bracket concept for the 1980 Olympics....
>
> The intellectual value of (in this instance) the piece is
> common now.
>
> If the issue is production v. prototype then that is a
> hugely grey area, whether from a manufacturing POV or a
> 'spirit of the rules' POV.
>
> How these rules are interpreted can be quite delicate.
> Another alternative would be to use the Japanese Keirin
> Association approach where there is no questioning the
> spirit of the rules whatsoever.
> "Kyle Legate" <[email protected]> wrote in message news:2idu9kFlj09lU1@uni-
> berlin.de...
> > > "TritonRider" <[email protected]> wrote in message
> > > news:[email protected]...
> > >>
> > >> The bike that Armstrong has dropped had been
> > >> specially designed by bike sponsor Trek and featured
> > >> a narrower bottom bracket shell in an effort to
> > >> reduce the overall frontal area of rider and bike. "
> > >
> > Doesn't this violate the spirit of the UCI rules, which
> > try to ensure that every athlete competes using more or
> > less the same equipment? By designing
> a
> > one-of-a-kind bike with a narrower BB shell, Trek is
> > creating equipment
> that
> > gives Lance an unfair technological advantage.
>
> As I said earlier, I don't know if Obree invented or
> merely popularized narrow BBs more than 10 years ago, but
> the concept has been laid out on the table for all to
> use. If Obree can fabricate a bike out of junkyard parts,
> then why can't a large corporation create essentially the
> same thing?
I believe that Cinelli and or the Raleigh developed the
narrow bottom bracket concept for the 1980 Olympics....
>
> The intellectual value of (in this instance) the piece is
> common now.
>
> If the issue is production v. prototype then that is a
> hugely grey area, whether from a manufacturing POV or a
> 'spirit of the rules' POV.
>
> How these rules are interpreted can be quite delicate.
> Another alternative would be to use the Japanese Keirin
> Association approach where there is no questioning the
> spirit of the rules whatsoever.
