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From: fred@varian.UUCP (Fred Klink)
Newsgroups: net.bicycle
Subject: Re: Frankie Moser's Hour Record(*Not so spoiled*)
Message-ID: <333@varian.UUCP>
Date: Mon, 1-Jul-85 12:53:03 EDT
Article-I.D.: varian.333
Posted: Mon Jul  1 12:53:03 1985
Date-Received: Fri, 5-Jul-85 04:33:17 EDT
References: <1019@druxj.UUCP>
Organization: Varian, Walnut Creek, CA
Lines: 55

Reply to Mr. Hildebrand,

1-- If Moser had beaten the hour record by 200 meters and then collapsed,
    I would agree that the his equipment had alot to do with it.  In fact,
    he beat the record resoundingly twice in a row!  The *man* pushing the
    pedals did that, not the bicycle.  I'm the "uniformed netter" that
    posted the original article in which I said that the moon discs on his bike
    were heavier than normal and this was *one of several unusual design
    characteristics of the bike*  I posted it as an interesting counterpoint
    to the cycling truism that light wheels are best.  It was not a suggestion
    that we all adopt six pound wheels.  Further, it is the human that provides
    most of the air resistance on a bike.  This is not to say that a delta
    bike with moon discs will not improve time trial times.  It will.  But
    it won't make a second rate rider the world's hour record holder.
    I've been associated with racing for 12 years and the myth amoung the press
    and the naive fan is persistant that equipment can make enormous
    differences in performance of otherwise equal riders.

    Speaking of uninformed:

2-- Sure he won Milano-San Remo?  You think thats a minor accomplishment?
    Moser beat Fignon by "only a minute and a half" in the final time trial
    of the Giro?  Another minor win by a second rate racer?
    You obviously aren't a racer, or if you are you are a very
    misguided one.  As I recall that time trial was a short one (~17 miles,
    less?).  In the upper echelons of European racing a 1.5 minute win in
    a time trial stage is outrageous and certainly requires more than a delta
    bike under you.  By comparison, in the final time trial stage (~ 25 miles)
    of the Tour
    de France in Bourdeux last year, Fignon with delta bike and aero helmet
    won by a couple hundreths of a second over Sean Kelly who rode a conven-
    tional bike.  Maybe Fignon's is just not a time trialist of the first
    category?

3-- The European sports press is just like the American.  When a performance
    goes against expectations, good or bad, the press is likely to look for
    and promote an explanation other than the athletic ability of the 
    participants.  That sells newspapers after all!
    Sure, Moser won the Giro by a slim margin because Italian
    fans "pushed him up the mountain".  Leading climbers in the Giro and
    other races are climbing about 10-12 mph or faster up grades as much
    as 18%-- they must have some tough fans that can run along side a rider
    *pushing* him under these conditions for long enough to make any difference
    in the outcome of a 3 week race!  A second rate racer cannot win a stage
    race in Europe by "cheating" and its foolish and uninformed to imply that
    one could.  Also, the Giro organizers were accused
    of tailoring the race to Moser's abilities.  It was the French press and
    the French teams that made this accusation.  To swallow anything from the
    French cycling community about an Italian racer in an Italian race is truly
    naive.  Its like believing everything the US press writes about Russians
    and East Germans.  Cycling in Europe is a business and everything ultimately
    comes down to a business decision including routes.   I've never heard
    the Dutch complain about the Tour de France even though their top riders
    are mostly time trialist/ pursuiter types and must consider all those
    mountains "unfair" to them.