Originally Posted by
shovelhd
I agree with you in general. Clear cut rules are clear cut rules, and what good are rules if they are not enforced. There may be logistical considerations, though, like they don't have a battery of scales to weigh hundreds of bikes, or enough gauges to measure setback in a reasonable amount of time. So why have the rule at all? Maybe it has to do with insurance, or compliance with UCI regulations. There's lots of fishy stuff going on at USAC.
in my experience, the rules (well, the ones that they are choosing to enforce that particular year) are enforced for TTs because they can have one scale, one jig and get everyone to shuffle through as they enter the corral. Once you enter, you cannot leave.
For a RR, practically speaking, what are they going to do? They could weigh bikes from the winners, but at that point the staff is already stretched. And......it is not the world tour so even if bikes were weighed beforehand what if parts swaps happened? It gets silly quick.
Back to your point...why bother having the rule? The rule does keep some folks honest but in a way winds up penalizing the honest ones.
My my other beef is one that anyone who has done one of these things may have observed. For TTs we would like to think the jig is authoritative, but those things are often flimsy, and I've seen them set up on ground that is not level. Whether an official chooses to pass a bike can have a subjective component, which is ridiculous. The guy who tells you your saddle is level + or - 3 degrees the night before is not the one who looks at it the day of the competition.
The he amount of energy collectively wasted by amateurs in the 24h leading up to these events is absurd, but there is not much way around it unless they completely ditch enforcement (which I support).