Any idea which bike belongs to which rider? Who's on the B-stone?

I think Yuta Obara is on the Bridgestone, Bunting is on the Dolan then you’ve got Levy and Forstemann who I presume are on the Fes’ and Mullen on the BT. Spratt’s bike isn’t shown but he’s on a Fuji.

Not seen Obara ride before as he’s a Keirin rider based in Japan but his position is super aero.

I've never heard of this guy before! Not national team that I'm aware of? And photos of him?

Edit: I just googled him and he seems to be a university rider from Asahi University. Sweet gig riding the London Six! I'm guessing he's bing tipped for big things over here.

Also, really interesting to see the variations in seat setback. Pretty much all over the map!

Other than the one FES, they are all pretty far back on the rails.

https://video.eurosport.nl/baanwielr...78/video.shtml

Video of the keirin bit, you can see the various bikes.

The race looks almost rigged. Is that possible/common?

Yes and Yes.

It's a show first and foremost.

Ever wonder how Nate Koch did well on the 6-Day scene but not in International, National, or even State level competition? :foo:

https://www.pezcyclingnews.com/wp-co...ch-win-920.jpg

https://www.pezcyclingnews.com/inter...man-nate-koch/

https://legacy.usacycling.org/result...?compid=333724

EDIT: I don't know about Koch's races directly. Maybe he had super-human strength only on those days. I have, however, had former top elite racers mention that it's a show [wink]. I've even heard stories of the F200s being run at a shorter distance to seem blazing fast for the crowds.

There are cases when a guy shows up at 6 days AND has the chops to win, like Cav.

It's the wwe of cycling. And I love it!

We have the seriousness of the world champs and Olympics why not just enjoy the spectacle of track cycling for the show it is.

It’s a bit like NASCAR

its exciting

Only NASCAR isn't rigged for the spectacle of it.

Sixes aren't "rigged" or "fixed" but they are, uh, "choreographed." Typically, for sprinters, each will be offered an opportunity to shine (in a keirin or similar), but the sprints will be pretty straight.

In the enduro events there will often be a general script - some lesser races will be essentially neutral and offered up to lesser teams for opportunities to get at it (take a lap, take the win, etc); the bigger closing chases (e.g., madisons run by classic rules where points are just tiebreakers for teams that are on the same lap - so it's all about taking laps) are wide-open/flat out and the big teams come to the fore. organizers often try to keep things so that the six comes down to the last race of the last day and so that there's a local favorite team vying for the podium.

Yeah, I think "fixed" is a loaded term. "choreographed for maximum entertainment" is more appropriate.

It's not much of a stretch when you realize that every spectator sport is entertainment. Every. One.

It's all a show :D

https://i.imgur.com/5mCN8d0.jpg

Interesting to bring up baseball -- the number of home runs hit this year has been ridiculous by basically any measure, and it's definitely not because the hitters are that much better than they were a few years ago. The ball itself has been juiced.

https://www.espn.com/mlb/story/_/id/...cords-set-2019
https://www.theringer.com/mlb/2019/8...p-distribution

Yes, but then they pulled the juiced ball during the post season, which affected game strategies.

(Though I'm not convinced they aren't swapping the ball around at various times to tweak games.)

https://www.bikeradar.com/news/hope-lotus-hb-t/

New GB BIKE

That theory has been around for a few years now: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features...-new-steroids/

lol really?

I'd love to dust off my old data sets, update them, and dive an and see what I can see. I just don't have the bandwidth these days.

What's more is that there is a psychological component that becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy: When the power hitters think the balls are juiced it gives them the confidence that unlocks better hitting resulting in more home runs.

Baseball is a crazy game.

(It could use a major overhaul, though)

Baseball denies it, but the general consensus is that baseball tweaked the exterior coating, making the balls a bit more aerodynamic, which allowed them to travel farther but also reduced the ability of pitchers to make the balls move. There is enough evidence over the course of one season to prove that something is different given how far balls traveled and how much pitchers struggled during the regular season.

But, come the post season, pitches started moving more and balls were not traveling as far, at least in the early rounds.

And Baseball owns Rawlings, which makes the balls.

Giro Attack with side pieces... nice idea for a 3d printer.
I use Attack it fits well my head and allow good sight view even on a very low position

Yeah, if that were true (and evidence strongly suggests that it is), MLB would have a very hard time defending that decision. It would be no less than a scandal. So, yeah, they are gonna deny it.

Narrow fork works well for discs, wider for spoked wheels as a rule of thumb.
There's more to it of course.

Might be more stuff at Minsk, just one or two pieces

Here is a screen shot of the "no name" bike ridden by the UK today in the World Cup team sprint. I noticed the large clearance between the down tube and front wheel.

Also I noticed the Danish men's TP team were wearing quite wide helmets - I assume to smooth airflow over the riders shoulders.
https://cimg3.ibsrv.net/gimg/bikefor...4144fd88f7.jpg

That's old uksi bike. 15 years old or so?

Bingo.