You can talk about him here on the front page of the forum;

http://forum.slowtwitch.com/...;;page=unread#unread

Roger that. Thanks for cluing me in.

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tinman

As much as I like Jens, when he broke the record (which surprised me), it was obvious it was very soft. There are easily 50 pros (probably a 100) that are better TTers. I think this record is going to keep getting peeled back until some big guns (Tony Martin, Cancellara) go after it. For right now it is a great headline grab for some second tier guys.

LOL....this would be like peeling back the 100m record to the time of Jesse Owens and saying your clothing needed to be the same as him. Then a bunch of 10.2 s runners would become the new record holders until Bolt shows up and cranks off a 9:80. Bolt probably shows up on a 0.01 m/s tailwind day for that so he doesn't beat Johnshon's doped 9.79 from Seoul, so then Bolt has to wait for a 1.89 m/s tailwind day in Zurich or one of the diamond league venues that are fast to crank off a 9:65. He still does not beat his "old" 9.59. But the IAAF does not forces the 'new runners' to use the same spikes and the same old Berlin track as Owens. Why did they dial it back to Merckx and not Anquetil anyway?....seems a bit arbitrary.

This entire hour record thing is totally dumb. As a minimum, if you're gonna allows the record off the "triathlete" positions which should then go to Rominger (Ferrari fuelled or not, we have no proof) if you are going to ban the superman. Banning the superman is like banning the Forbury flop for high jump (banning that would be totally bogus...Dick figured out a technical way to jump higher and Obree figured out a technical way to ride faster in velodrome), because the Superman is totally linked to athlete innovation and not so much to machine innovation, so I would like to see them allow the superman too.

In any case, glad that Jens got wiped out of there quickly.

Like All Star slam dunk contest. LOL

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Yeah, the rolling-back of the record was a bit arbitrary, but I guess they were hoping (as has happened) that someone will beat it fairly quickly, set a new standard to beat and draw a line under all that mess.

As for the current equipment requirements, I think they're very sensible. You've got to draw the line somewhere otherwise it'd soon turn into a farce again and they've drawn it somewhere sensible that manufacturers are already familiar with.

I'm enjoying the renaissance of the hour record. Matthias Brandle had two good wins over here in the lowly Tour of Britain earlier this year, but an A-lister he is not. Bring on the big guns!

...yes....but the current guys are on faster bikes than Boardman and Obree used to ride FASTER. Boardman and Obree were on slower bikes but road faster with a superior technique, not with better equipment. Using the Fosbury flop analogy, or in XC skiing skate technique vs. classic technique, why ban innovation by athletes that figure out a better technique for racing faster-higher-stronger. That's EXACTLY what we want....humans pulling it off independent of machinery. I can ride Superman on my P3 simply by raising my aero pads, sliding the saddle back and moving the extensions out a bit and be entirely inside the UCI equipment rules....that's why I find the banning of the superman position arbitrary. Let's ban freestyle swimming and make athletes go breast stroke..or maybe go back to side stroke or doggy paddle too!!! Do you see hoow ridiculous this is if you compare to human innovation in other sports?

The rule now is very clear, bikes must be pursuit legal. Boardman attempt is not valid because the bike he used then would not comply with today's rule. It's regrettable that the reason it doesn't comply is because of a technicality that probably didn't make his bike much faster, but what else could they do? The old rules were stupid... Good on the UCI for finally fixing them.

The "why ban innovation" argument is kind of stupid... A line has to be drawn somewhere, or everyone would be riding recumbents. I for one am glad they decided to keep their athlete on something that still resembles a bike, and that the best athlete can still win.

Such changes have happened in other sports in the past. Javelin throw, skinsuits in swimming, wetsuit in triathlon... Many, many examples actually.

I don't have a strong opinion on the rules of the hour record either way, but to be fair, there are somewhat arbitrary rules in any of the examples you listed as well. Why can't you do freestyle in an attempt to break the breast stroke world record? Why can't you dive for the whole distance in freestyle races?
Where would you draw the line for the hour record rules, equipment wise? If you want to try for the fastest possible time regardless of equipment rues, you'd have to go to the Human Powered Vehicle Challenge. No barriers to innovation there!

Cheers,
malte

I think the strokes in swimming are dumb too but don't tell nobody.

There is already a venue to take on cycling records without any rules. IHPVA

Go after it

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Then why was Boardman's pursuit WR, ridden about a week apart from the hour record ride and on same set up, kept in the record books until Jack Bobridge broke it in 2011?

The pursuit bike rules have changed twice since Bobridge rode. Does that mean his record no longer stands?

Eddy Merckx hour record was done on a bike that would not have complied with the "Merckx" bike rules.

They make no sense to me either. Lots of extra medals for swimming slower.

I don't get competition walking either.
e

Wait. Is this true? References please.

Andy

Google the bike's weight (~5.5kg). Plus his "helmet" would not have been legal either.
Here, see page 4 of this article from Bicycle Guide Magazine.

A little over 12 lbs 1oz

http://www.classicrendezvous.com/Benelux/Merckx/Merckx_hour_B-guide_1.htm

That is hilarious...never realized the Eddy was effectively VIRTUALLY DQ'd from his own category of record!!!

All that to say that these guys can break all kinds of records for now but until the UCI allows people to ride the superman position, Boardman's top line number will still stand and that number had nothing to do with the bike, just engine, superior aero technique, prep and execution/attention to detail. Hey, these guys today on faster bikes/gear are not even going faster than Indurain and Rominger on the triathlete position ... yes and I know that Rominger had the same "coach" as Lance, and helmets in that time were fairings so much faster with less frontal, but I HOPE that with the right clean rider from today and the rest of the aero gear being superior that our guys today can take out Rominger's top number which if I recall was 55 kph.