- [Scott] Now, we've seen in the under-23 Cyclo-cross World
Championships, in the women's class, a hidden motor has actually been found
in one of her spare bikes.
- [Neil] Yeah, so the question we're going to pose today is, could this have
ever happened in a cross-country mountain bike race?
- And to do just that, we've brought in a Global Cycling Network dirt roadie.
- [Si] Sorry. All right. We're good.
♪ [music] ♪
- So, Si, tell me about this bike.
- All right. Well, if there is any cheating going to be in mountain
biking, then the chances are it probably did start on the road, and this little bit
of kit has come from exactly that. You may be wondering what is in my giant saddle
bag. It's not just my packed lunch. There is, in fact, a battery. So,
the wire from the battery goes into the seat chief and the business end is
right here. This is where the motor sits, okay? And it produces about 150 watts,
which is pretty reasonable, I think, for like a fit mountain biker.
And then, that drives the bottom bracket axle directly by like a little pinion
gear. And then you simply switch on and off using that little switch at the
handlebars. If you take your feet off the pedals, the pedals would still turn round,
but it does mean that when you stop pedaling to try and freewheel,
then the motors stops. So then you'd have to switch it back on again.
- Do you think this conceivably could've happened in a cross-country
mountain bike race?
- Conceivably, yeah. Whether or not it's faster, I don't know.
I think we should try and find out.
- Let's try it.
- So this is what Si's up against, Canyon's highest spec mountain bike.
Hardtail, full carbon frame. I have got to [inaudible 00:01:45] but only in my
derailleur. Now, this bike only weighs seven and a half kilos, which
is four kilograms lighter than Simon's bike. It could be the weight in the climbs
that really just makes a difference, and hopefully, I'll get that win.
♪ [music] ♪
- Okay Si, I'm on my cross-country 29er, super lightweight bike,
and it's kind of hard work pedaling up this hill. How does that feel?
- Well, I haven't got my motor switched on yet, mate. So it's honestly,
I think you probably should just do a little bit more training.
But it can't have... You can definitely feel that it's working.
I suppose the funny thing about saying you got 150 watts is that 150 watts to someone
that's 50 kilos, isn't very fit, is a massive amount. Whereas the bigger you
are, the less it gets. Which certainly, I'm not having to work anywhere near as
hard right now. So, do you mind if we press on a bit? Because I'm getting a bit
cold.
- My legs are tired.
- Sorry, mate. You got it?
♪ [music] ♪
- Okay guys, time to race. I'd love to do it myself, but actually,
I'm on a full suspension bike, so it wouldn't be a direct comparison.
And my seat foam's a little bit out of torque. So, Scott, it's up to you,
I'm afraid. So, cross-country time trial, one lap. Ebike versus your legs.
Let's do it.
- Anyway, sorry. You can't go just yet, mate.
- I've noticed this is getting way too roadie.
- You got to look right for these things. There you go. You're ready to go.
♪ [music] ♪
- Tell you what Si, I'm not going to lie. The Canyon was a rocket
ship, but I'd be very interested to have a go on your electric assist bike.
- I'm not surprised, mate, 150 extra watts, you could argue.
- Should we do a swap?
- All right, fine.
- Come on, I know you want a shot of this.
- I was going to say, I'm pretty excited about getting on that.
- Let's do it. Go on. There you go. Look after her, though.
- I will do, mate.
- She is my baby.
♪ [music] ♪
- Okay, fellas, the times are in. Right, I'll hit you with it.
Scott, you were one minute, 19 faster on the cross-country bike.
- What?
- Than on the ebike. Si, you're only 38 seconds faster on the cross-country bike.
- You didn't switch it on, did you mate?
- I think I pressed on, pretty sure.
- So, Si, the cross-country bike is actually faster than the ebike.
- Yeah, well I've actually got to pick up on this, is that you can actually
feel the extra four kilograms. It's quite a lot heavier, and also,
that saddle bag being right up high. Your weight's quite high,
and when you're actually maneuvering on the descents, it's just not got that
same agility that the cross-country bike has.
- That is an awful lot of time. Where did you think the cross-country bike
made that time?
- Well, ironically enough, I'm pretty sure it was on the climb.
You know, you've got 150 extra watts, but it doesn't offset the fact that that
Canyon is four kilos less, and it is just built for going fast, isn't it?
The one place I did notice the electric bike was over the top of any kind of steep
kicker, where you're soft pedaling, getting your breath back, and that's when
I felt that extra 150 watts. Which is quite subtle, but that was just sort of
dragging me along a little bit.
- Yeah. I think as well, with that pinion mechanism, as soon as you come to
any obstacle where you maybe got to stop pedaling, freewheel a little
bit, it obviously kicks off, and you've got to press on again. So there's a
bit of a lag there as well. So...
- So I think, in conclusion, we can say that you'd be pretty stupid to
use one of these in a cross-country race.
- Yeah.
- You would. Unless, I suppose, you were really light and really weak
in which case, maybe 150 watts might help you, but yeah. Generally speaking,
I don't think there's any stress about this being used in the Olympics.
- That's me.
- But I tell you what the bike would be good for is, if you're out on the
canal paths, having that extra 150 watts could be really beneficial.
- Yeah. That is true, actually, and the bike is a lot lighter than an ebike,
isn't it? Maybe ten kilos lighter, but everything was put in pretty sharp focus,
wasn't it? We were standing on a far road filming a section, and a guy on an
electric Duro Bike came past about 30K an hour putting out 500 watts.
- Yeah, but then you have got that 350 watts to compensate for,
and that's quite a big difference, really.
- That's massive.
- If you want to check out some more videos like this,
click just up there and that'll take you through to "Are Cross-Countries
Fast on Descent?"
- Yeah. Or, I hope you don't mind guys, if you click down there,
you go through to GCN's video where we test out a similar bike with a hidden
motor which, arguably, may or may not have been used in bike races before.
So, check it out.
- And before you watch either of them, I think you should hit subscribe.
You get a great video every day of the week, and it's absolutely free.
- Yeah.
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