Originally Posted by Doge

I like the complexity and never being able to figure out the secret sauce. Being able to get the good stuff is part of the competition. Same as a lot of auto racing - I prefer the complexity around the teams and car prep.
The more you standardize everything they more it comes down to just the athlete and removes variables. I find variables in sport more exciting. This has been well tested in soccer where the human refs who are pretty good, introduce human error and that just adds an aspect to the game. At one time I learned I could finish better getting a job so I could buy a decent bike and afford entry to a race vs training and having no money to enter. That was my early 80s. Then I found I was not good anyway, but at least I got to ride some really nice bikes to work.

The Keirin was mentioned. Is the excitement around the betting (in Japan) or the sport? I think the former. Pretty hard to see Keirin for the fans on TV. UCI Worlds are nice, but I don't find myself checking in on Keirin races very often.