slindell

I was thinking of IROC when commenting where ideally you just show up and pick a bike off the rack. But I seem to remember that some cars were consistently faster than others so the results were partially determined by the draw.
On bikes you get into the insignificant digits by things like rims getting heavier as the dies wear so different batches vary in weight. Frames vary in alignment, weight and fine measurements. So even if not mattering much in overall results there are minor variations. Ski manufacturers pull skis off the line that match flex/weight/vibration parameters that they want for the race pool so even though you can buy the same model off the same line as the top racers their equipment is faster. Some of the racers claim favoritism by the ski mfgs for some racers getting the best off the line.

Overall I think having a standard bike would be good for most racers by capping the cost it is probably not sellable at the top end and the standard bikes would cost more than the low end now raising the barrier a bit to get started. If you need the equipment boost (or other help) to get an upgrade to the next cat life probably will not be pleasant there anyway so applying limits to cats 5-3(2?) might help people enjoy things more.