shovelhd

I just installed a Doge mirror on my bars. I am one cheatin' Fred.

grolby

Not to give you crap, but because I'm seriously a bit puzzled by this - you seemed very concerned with the importance of rider intent in previous discussions on cheating. Why are you going to the bat for strict liability now?

Gonna win all the town line sprints.

Doge

I argued Intent is required to determine if someone cheated. A rule being broken did not mean there was cheating.
But for professionals certainly - just penalize what you catch.

You are not the only one on BF that has told me they are getting a mirror. Some claim it is against the rules, but I wouldn't call it cheating.

shovelhd

If breaking the rule provides an unfair advantage, then it is cheating in my book.

I am retired from racing so the mirror is not an advantage.

Homebrew01

Mirrors are illegal ? Sorry, not really following all the discussions , so may have missed some backstory.

Doge

It depends on the official...
I don't think they are but here is the requirement that must be met - for USAC.

1I1 (d) The handlebar ends shall be solidly plugged and attachments thereto shall be fashioned in such a way as to minimize danger without impairing steering. In road, track,or cyclo-cross races, handlebars with ends, features, or attachments that extend forward or upward or that provide support for other than the rider's hands are permitted only intime trial and pursuit events (not in Team Sprint); however,attachments that point upward on the brake hoods of road bicycles are allowed if the distance between them is greater than 25 cm (9.8 inches).

Here is another I've seen debated with pads on the tops of the bars and computer holders that are so robust they can be used to hold onto:
(g) ...Handlebars for massed-start bicycles may not have forearm supports nor handlebar extensions or attachments that point forward....

shovelhd

Right. They are not explicitly forbidden. I was just pulling Doge's chain.

That said, the mirror is glass, and could be deemed a safety hazard by an official.

revchuck 

I upgraded to Windows 10 and my laptop didn't die...yet, anyway. This is in contrast to my last laptop which didn't make it through the Vista-to-8.1 upgrade.

TheKillerPenguin

Yea Windows has been telling me to do the free upgrade for a while now. How do you like the feel of 10? I actually like Windows 8. There are dozens of us!

himespau 

I'm really hesitant to give up Windows 7, which is working fine and hasn't given me any trouble.

carpediemracing 

Doesn't apply to you, but I hate when officials pull stuff like that, especially when it appears to be an ego thing, like when they tell me to do something because of a particular rule, and when I point out that rule doesn't apply they tell me to do it for a different reason.

When I had the camcorder in my jersey plus feeder cam on my helmet, and cables running under my jersey, I was told to "remove the radio, they're not allowed'. I pointed out that it's not a radio. Official paused, grinned, and said it was loose equipment. I don't think the official wanted to back down. The equipment was secured better than my bottles, my glasses, gel in my pocket, etc (I offered to use multiple pins to close the pocket so nothing could move, and the feeder cam on my helmet wouldn't come off until the helmet was in a bazillion pieces). Official said, no, it's still loose equipment.

If the official said, oh, it's not a radio? Okay. Then it would have been okay. Or if the official said, well, I'd like you to remove the camera set up, I'm not comfortable with you carrying it around in the race. That would be fine too.

I was asked by two officials this year to remove my helmet cam. One specifically told me the promoter forbade them. I'm okay with that. Not happy, but okay (and, damn it, I won the field sprint and got 3rd and there's not a single picture/video of the gap at the line because I almost caught the break at the line... grrr).

At another race, same venue, and the officials asked me not to record the race. I'm okay with that.

Ironically, at that second race one junior official came up to me and demanded I remove the Cane Creek bars. The official that asked me to remove the helmet cam actually came running up to the junior official and said that my bars are legal.

Based on facial expression the senior official wasn't happy to be asking me to remove my helmet cam (I've known that official since well before Bethel started) but it was obvious someone told them that would be the case. At the same time the official did hold up my right to use the Cane Creeks. To me that's all good.

Wylde06

I was told to take my helmet cam off in a race, 3 weeks into a 4 week series, that I had used for 2 years in the same series. Same official at all of the races, and he wouldn't give me a reason (was on the start line and I wasn't going to argue with him beyond the initial questioning of it).

I sent an email to usac asking if cameras were for some reason banned (and told them the race I was told to take it off). I didn't have any issues after that

revchuck 

I downloaded it last night so I haven't had much chance to use it. Not much difference that I can see so far, which is a good thing. Everything was where I left it, nothing disappeared. Good so far, anyway.

Hermes

Handlebars should be plugged. Why? In a high speed (or low) crash, one can be impaled by the bar end. A plug reduces the chance of that happening. A plug that contains a mirror and comes to a point, IMO, is worse or equal to an unplugged bar end.

hack

My old laptop laptop and work computer run 7 and I just bought a new laptop with 10. So far, it has been an easy transition, but I still prefer and am more comfortable with 7.

Doge

But these are not. I don't think they are glass, they are hollow plastic and they have a knob that inserts into a socket on the handlebar end. They would come off on contact. Safety wise I think the GoPro is worse. But my opinion. If a ref says they are not allowed, you pull them out of the plug (the plug stays in).

Flatballer

I switched a new laptop that came with Windows 8 to Windows 10. I like 10 better than 8. It's much better for laptops, because you can go back to just using the normal start menu desktop that you're used to by default. No issues at all.

I had a friend get a core sample of his stomach taken by an unplugged bar end when I was younger. He was very lucky he was kind of fat.

revchuck 

Gotta love Louisiana. Next Tuesday is Mardi Gras. NPR has a local cooking program called "Louisiana Eats". This week's recipe? Jello shots!

mike868y

i think i'm still hungover from the last time i was in new orleans

Harlan

Smart phone app for finding magnetic fields.

cmh

I can see how this would work - phones have magnetic sensing for the compass that I suppose could be used. But motors can be made without permanent magnets, and in that case there will be no magnetic field when it isn't operating. So I suppose the next round of motor-cheaters will come up with such a motor...

Enthalpic

My understanding is that for a electric motor to be both small enough to fit in a seat tube and powerful enough to be of value it would require strong rare-earth magnets.

caloso

Well, at least it would be effective at tripping the traffic light sensor.

Flatballer

My motor game is weaker than it should be for my profession, but I think that's basically right. A DC motor without permanent magnets are switched or variable reluctance. They require some decently complicated control circuitry (wasted power and space and weight) and are kind of loud, which is bad for hiding things.

You could use a synchronous motor or similar, but they're large, heavy, and need AC power, so you'll waste a decent bit of power (and space) on a large inverter.

shovelhd

The one I have has a glass mirror. The instructions say to install a bar plug first before fitting it, but to prove it, you'd have to remove the bar tape and the tape holding the mirror on. Might as well cut it off. I have mine to help the compromised vision in my left eye.

Cane Creek Speed Bars were great around here until a certain club from RI had a half dozen riders on them with them pointed straight ahead. Not illegal, but clearly an attempt to mimic an aerobar. The local NatComm pulled the plug on them. Install them as intended or get out.

Windows 10 is an improvement over both 7 and 8. Just don't use the crappy browser.