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Old 07-14-21, 06:43 PM
  #26  
Maelochs
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Bikes: 2015 Workswell 066, 2017 Workswell 093, 2014 Dawes Sheila, 1983 Cannondale 500, 1984 Raleigh Olympian, 2007 Cannondale Rize 4, 2017 Fuji Sportif 1 LE

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First off, factories can build bikes below the limit easily, and do, because they'd rather add lead to the bottom bracket than have to explain to the other sponsors that the team didn't win a stage--or a stage race--because their competitors had lighter and thus more efficient climbing bikes .... or even sprint bikes, because those sprinters still have to get up the hills.

As for discs and wheel changes .... some bikes need special wrenches to pull the skewers (and I guarantee you the riders are not carrying wrenches.) Some mechanics use electric drills with the proper tool head to get the wheels off faster---and in a lot of cases I have seen, the teams just give the rider a new bike instead of a new wheel.

People (particularly those who actually know stuff (unlike myself)) talked a lot about how disc brakes could cause teams to lose critical mountain stages---often where Grands Tours are won or lost---because the neutral service car might not have the right wheels, or the right tools, and because, since it takes longer for a wheel change, the group might get too far ahead of a rider while the wheel was being changed, ending that rider's chances for yellow (red, pink, whatever) overall. When I saw teams swapping bikes instead of wheels, I felt those others (and myself to whatever degree) were vindicated--wheel changes have now become make-or-break moments, where they used to take instants---a rider could remove his/her own wheel and be ready for the mechanic.

Of course, since there are support vehicles ......

But yes, the idea that a team mate could save the race by swapping wheels when the team cars might be ten minutes behind the group on a narrow steep mountain .... would be a good reason to use rim brakes on the bikes of the team whose leader had a five-minute lead.
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