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Velonews has an update on a topic we covered previously.
It seems that the present method for checking for hidden motors involves an iPad with an external inductive sensor. This gives frequent false positives and as such the race officials tend to ignore it...
"Doctor Bernd Valeske inspected a bike slowly," read the article. "Halfway down the seat tube, he stops, the display reads 10 out of 10 intensity. Is the cylindrical battery truly here?
"Valeske continues, and surprise, the tablet shows another alarm, 10 out of 10, at another point in the same tube. Then a third one in the cassette and a fourth in the down tube."
Valeske put the frame under an X-ray that revealed the prohibited motor was only in the third location. The other alarms were just natural magnetic fields produced by the materials.
The article explained that the UCI's inspectors will let the bike pass in the case of such false positives because they are in a rush to test so many bicycles at the start of races. At the Tour de France, 22 teams of nine riders each raced. Riders each have one or two spare bikes.
Valeske passed the tablet over an induction magnet wheel that cost 20,000 euros. The display remained at zero as he passed the wheel and indicated it was "clean." An X-ray machine, however, showed the plates and wires of the high-tech motor.
Such wheels can produce 60 watts. Hidden frame motors may generate 250. The UCI has only caught one cheating cyclist in its reported 42,500 tests over two years. Belgian Femke Van den Driessche, then 19, was caught using a bike with a motor in its tube at the 2016 cyclocross worlds.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday September 05 2017, @11:16PM (10 children)
Expose the bike to a condition that would destroy a motor, or have them assemble the entire bike in front of Cycling officials.
(Score: 1) by fustakrakich on Tuesday September 05 2017, @11:25PM (1 child)
Expose the bike to a condition that would destroy a motor
Yeah, they could dunk them in mineral water. Should be conductive enough to short everything out. Might start a hazardous battery fire though
La politica e i criminali sono la stessa cosa..
(Score: 4, Insightful) by Virindi on Wednesday September 06 2017, @12:20AM
Cheaters would just be extra careful to seal their motors and electronics.
All frame sections should have an access hole for a borescope.
(Score: 5, Insightful) by richtopia on Wednesday September 06 2017, @12:58AM (6 children)
Actually it was already solved (and posted here I thought): weigh the bicycle. At this level of completion, everyone is riding premium bikes and the deviation in weight does not account for a motor. If you weigh a bike and it is heavy, then xray it.
(Score: 3, Funny) by Mykl on Wednesday September 06 2017, @06:01AM
Not a problem - I'll just start filling my tyres with helium. Muahahahaha!
(Score: 4, Insightful) by caffeine on Wednesday September 06 2017, @07:12AM (3 children)
They already are weighed to make sure they are not under the UCI minimum of 6.8kg. The issue is they can easily make bikes under this limit so hiding the extra weight of a motor and battery is possible.
(Score: 2) by tonyPick on Wednesday September 06 2017, @09:40AM
Also if you put the battery and controls in a removable part, like a water bottle, they don't actually have to hide that much weight - just the motor.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 06 2017, @06:59PM (1 child)
They already try to make bikes as light as possible to conserve athlete energy. A motor would probably make it suspiciously heavy, unless maybe the bike is overly thin in some spots as to make it a safety hazard. But, some riders may be willing to take that risk.
Perhaps the bikes should be standardized and reshuffled. No more personal bikes.
(Score: 2, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 06 2017, @10:41PM
You didn't read the post you just replied to. THE RULES SET A MINIMUM WEIGHT. This STOPS them from making bikes as light as possible -- because it's already possible to make them lighter than the minimum weight, with no safety hazard, but those bikes are simply not allowed. By making the bike lighter (and still plenty strong), you can build in a motor and still come in at the minimum weight.
(Score: 2) by Aiwendil on Wednesday September 06 2017, @02:04PM
While at it also try to find the bike's center of gravity.
And hit the thing with a degausser.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Wednesday September 06 2017, @11:35AM
So you get it serviced by Gomer Pyle?