kajet wrote:
Hear hear! Jimmyâs responses were a bit vague and a bit evasive, but I got the impression that he believes all those bodges were not legal last season at all and Ironman has now only made the wording more precise to remove all doubt.
If my understanding is correct⌠where are all the DQs in 2023 races?
Also, I struggle to believe that the said aero bodges violate âthe spirit of the rulesâ - and that the essence of said spirit is that youâre only supposed to install products âmade by a companyâ.
IDGAF if a piece of equipment violates the "spirit of the rules". It's either fits within the rules or it does not, full stop. It's too subjective to have rules words like "fairing" and "made by a company" as part of equipment rules. What if I form an LLC and hand sign every piece of plastic crap I build in my garage? That's "made by a company".
"Spirit of the rules" is for conduct, not equipment.
On the safety front, is that actually a concern for non-draft races? Let's say some hooligan 3d prints a disc wheel that breaks on course and he crashes. Does that actually impact anyone around him who's not in the draft zone? Bike safety is a self-enforcing rule, you're not gonna ride something that isn't gonna make it to the finish.
My submission to Ironman, you can have this for free and change it as you like, but I promise it captures what you're trying to do more predictably than the current rule:
Any hydration, nutrition, tool storage, or other non-OEM storage on a bicycle may be located either within the existing frameset (including the seatpost, fork, handlebars, and aero bar extension) or in one of 2 areas:
1) Behind the hands, in an area extending vertically from the top of the stem to the rider's chest and extending horizontally from the rider's hands to a vertical line drawn through the center of the crankset, not extending laterally further than the width of the handlebars. No part will be allowed in the area above the rider's forearms, except in the area between the arms, covering not more than half the forearm width on either side when viewed from above. A computer may be mounted in this area so long as it's dimensions do not exceed 4"x3"x2".
2) Behind the seat, in an area extending horizontally from a vertical line drawn through the crankset and ending at a vertical line drawn through the rear wheel axle, with no part extending laterally further than the width of the handlebars.
Yes, people will find loopholes and make bespoke solutions to maximize this, but at least they're not doing in a such a way where the limit of legality is the mood of the official on race morning. Open to improvements from the community