morph999 

Check this out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Nd13ARuvVE

nwmtnbkr

I don't know about their allegations, but I like that stealth engine mounted in the tube.

colombo357

Accused? By a couple hacks on youtube who thought of something that any decent electrical/mechanical engineer could've concocted in an hour?

I don't think so.

dumbass 

I agree with you. If there was really a question of a motor being used in this race then why wasn't the bike inspected on the spot after the race? I'm just not buying it.

Bottom line...Where can I get this setup??

Allen

https://www.gruberassist.com/
^^^^^
Bet it's that one.

DarthSensate

I don't think so.
That Gruber Assist unit is 900g (1.9 lbs).
Gruber site indicates that is the weight of the "motor-transmission"
Add controller and batteries to that and there's no way he was using it at that weight penalty for just the short bursts seen in the videos.

In a race, even an off-road/all-terrain race, a 2-4 pound weight penalty is HUGE.

I don't even see where it indicates on the site that the "transmission", reduction gears, free wheel without a load. If they don't, the rider would be fighting inertia and back-EMF drag from the motor and gears.

(EDIT: I found on the Gruber video where the "motor-transmission" DOES have a free wheel mechanism after the reduction gears. So the rider would NOT be fighting the motor resistance when no power is applied. Pretty nice concept and engineering. I like it!)

DarthSensate

Watch the Gruber video on their and notice how loud the gearing is on this unit!
No way to be stealthy with that horrid whining noise.

morph999 

He hasn't been accused of it until now. Right? So they wouldn't have suspected him at the time of the race. Did you see the massive acceleration on the cobblestones? Is that possible to leave an experienced rider like Tom Boonen in the dust like that? I read that he isn't using the gruber assist but a specially made one from another country. Cancellara changed bike 2 times in the Flanders race. Why is he doing that?

DarthSensate

I would not have thought so. Does seem super-human to me. But the weight penalty of the drive system would be to much.

Anyone know if he switched bikes JUST before that leg of the race? That could make the drive feasible but still the motor would have to be VERY different than the Gruber Assist to eliminate the noise. Probably would have to be a direct drive motor to eliminate the gear noise. Even then there is still the gearing at the crank shaft to make noise.

Could be bionics too, you know!!! Maybe he's got some of those Abdominizer-muscle-electrode-thingies in his pants and a super capacitor charged by solar cells in his helmet! The Bionic Man never needed an E-bike!

morph999 

To me, it looked like he had a rear axle hub motor. A very small one. If you've ever seen the bafang hub motor, they can get very tiny. Maybe he's got a very small rear hub motor and it looks just like a nexus or something. Can't it be proven based on science? If you take where he was on the cobblestone and mark the distance and time, we can figure out how much power would be needed. Someone said it would take 3000 watts on the cobblestones to do what he did. And then in that video, there is another part where he accelerates and it doesn't even look like he increased his cadence at all.

cerewa

There is no such thing as a tiny 2000-watt ebike motor.

There is also no such thing as a tiny silent ebike motor -- the only way to produce a useful amount of torque with a very-small motor is to have it be a high-RPM motor with reduction gears that make plenty of noise.

Crystalyte gearless hubs can provide almost 2000 watts of power and can do it quietly too. But that's because they are big heavy hunks of metal.

RB1-luvr

entertaining.

cruiserhead

two pounds is not a lot of weight. That's less than a couple bidons.
However, Cancellara cheating? Ridiculous.
Ignoring the fact he is built like Seabuscuit, there is no plausible way to store a battery pack or do any of this without the mechanics, ds, Specialized's entire staff and the staff of the companies or individuals that make the motor assembly.

It would be the cheating of an entire system of people.

I think it's exciting to think about because the everyday cyclist could get a motor and know what it's like to crank along like the pros.

To address the questions:
-Cancellara blew away Boonen at that moment because he's smart. Boonen was pulling hard and Cancellara waited for the right moment to jump him. Boonen was working way too much and Cancellara took advantage.

-Changing bikes: This happens much more often than you think. Riding the cobbles is harsh. For a team star, changing bikes when there is a mechanical misadjustment or whatever, is common.
Many leaders change bikes when they go up climbs, for example. A lighter, more fragile bike or a bike with different gearing.
Cancellara is not alone in this at all.

GTR2EBIKE

it looks pretty conclusive that something is going on. Look how hard he starts to pull in a split second in the first clip, then the last clip the other guy is working his ass off and slows to probably half the speed of Cancellara who is seated and looks like he's on his way to the grocery store

LeeG

amazing, a bike race where one rider goes faster than others. How could that be!

Richard Cranium

It isn't so much that he Can C went faster than others - it was the fact he went faster with so much style and apparent ease.

Having been on both the giving and receiving end of such "demonstrations" during my racing days - I see your point - as I was once accused of cheating by a support staff of a competitor. When I heard that later on the competitor contradicted his team mate's accuasations and acknowledged that he had been "dropped" fair and square of a long climb - race official chuckled and ingnored the comments.

My point being, I guess the only real "test of truth" should come from the cyclists along side and ultimately "dropped" by Can C - they are best source for what is fact and what is fake in these stories.

PS - the Gruber assist is nothing more or less than a cordless drill motor driving the spnidle - how much help is that? - I don't know........

LeeG

I saw Greg Lemond climb at the Nevada City Criterium in 1980, it was amazing how he floated up the climb without any expression of pain or suffering. Coincidentally that was when Makita Nicad powered drills were coming on the market,,hmmm.

markus_mudd

I like the looks of that power assist! Cancellara has always looked so fast and strong though. My opinion is that those accelerations were just big legs and good timing. Still.......it might be possible for somebody to slip through inspections with such a stealth system. Plus, that weight penalty is really not an issue. All the major bike companies can easily make bikes that are two pounds lighter than the UCI minimum weight limit. It's already common for racers to add weight or heavier components to their bikes to get them up the minimum.

My jaw would drop if it were proven that somebody was cheating with electric assist!!!! I don't see how it could happen......But I sure like that assist Fabien is being accused of using!

DwayneS

I have but one question: Where can I get one?

52-13@95

True or false, the headline "UCI to tackle mechanised doping with bike scans" means someone is taking this seriously.

Laserman

There is no such thing on the shelf of the LBS to be sure but if you have the time and money there is no reason such a thing cannot be built.
Gear noise is a product of mass production and sloppy tolerances. Given a dedicated machine shop and exotic materials such as delrin or ptfe doped ceramics you can make a gear set as silent as you want it to be.
With the amount of money riding on the outcome of the pro racing circuit I think such things are not out of the question. I do wonder where the heck they would put the batteries.

DwayneS

Delrin is exotic?

Delrin/Acetal is commonplace in computer case modding and watercooling. It's not as cheap as acrylic but no more than would be needed for gears, not exotic and very easy to find and order.

Laserman

It was around 30 years ago that I first encountered delrin and it was considered somewhat exotic then, the combination of high rigidity and low friction was unusual in the thermoplastics of the day.
Times change and sometimes people forget to change with them.