[Closed] CRC now selling snake oil

I want to know why one says Ovarian cancer on the side. They can't possibly be touting it as a cure for that, can they?

(maybe it's just that the proceeds go towards a charity, but the description doesn't say)

Hmmm...

don't it's my 'Power balance' that needs improving just a serious bit of weight reduction and fitness increase.

I bet they can cure rheumatisms 😀

"do you believe in magic?

- then get your rubber band today!"

They're much cheaper here... http://skepticbros.com/store/ $2AUS

Aren't you convinced by the endorsement of Willow Koerber?

[img] [/img]

Shes not wearing them in that pic, took me a while to notice though 😀

I want to know why one says Ovarian cancer on the side.

Cos they're for c--ts.

Wiggle have been selling them for a while now, incidentally. You can get a box of replacement holograms for sixty quid... 😯

just like [url= http://tinyurl.com/393yawf ]these[/url] which seem to be all the rage in motorcycle trials...

Surely to be in balance you'd need to buy 2.

There will always be stupid people queueing up to waste their money...

i know im confused easily, but everytime this comes up i jump to its defence.

following a few physio sessions i began using a balance band and ive found it really great, the benefits are quite obvious and its such an easy and discreet thing ive found it easy to slot it into my routine.......

oh, sorry i mean a balance board

It's a high-tech rabbit's foot, crystal, lucky charm...
[url= http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/There%27s_a_sucker_born_every_minute ]this says it all[/url]

Sad.

When I was working in ceramic research I was given a project to investigate the use of magnets on energy consumption/calorific value. A little like the magnets that were sold for reducing limescale build up in water pipes. The idea was that these magnets were installed around the gas supply pipes to kilns. By supposedly aligning the molecules of the gas the following combustion was supposedly more efficient and the calorific value of the gas maximised. There was very little actual evidence reported, or what there was had very little or spurious data to support the claims (surprise). A lot of the data that was available was from some Indian factories. What made these results so dubious was that the actual calorific value of the gas used in India varied so much even day to day that it was all but impossible to substantiate the findings.

I'm sure if you believe in these bands they may have an effect. Weren't a number of pro riders (even LA) wearing something that looked like a towelling wrist band but worn mid fore-arm a few years back? I seem to remember these were supposed to do a similar thing cos they had some sort of metal embedded in the threads?

Snake oil indeed. If they could halp me loose the 15kg that I am overweight they could significantly improve my riding!

If they could halp me loose the 15kg that I am overweight they could significantly improve my riding!

Eat one. I'm sure it'll do something...

[i]Made with a stretch feature that extends easily over your hand[/i] 😆

as used by lots of pros at the redbull rampage

seems to work for them!
http://www.southerndownhill.com/forum/index.php/topic,235501.0.html

its all just placebo head stuff innit

We spoke to one of the sales reps at the Cycleshow. His final word on the matter was that if it's just a placebo and it has an effect is that so bad?

We have two of their bands here in the office. We have removed the holgrams from one and taped up both so you can't tell one from the other. We are trying to devise the best double blind test of them that we can. It's hard to do when the claims are so vague.. 'increase in core strength'.. 'improves balance'.

So.. would all the scientists and rational thinkers out there like to suggest some suitable double blind tests we can do here at the office? We will be videoing all the ones that we do and publishing the results.

it's just a placebo and it has an effect is that so bad?

If you charge £30 for it, and claim it works through magic, then yes.

By the way, I'm selling rocks that make you stoked+sick^(gnarl*radcore). They work by using troll magic. All you have to do is put them at the bottom of your camelbak or pocket when riding. Various sizes, so no need to worry about weight. Special price of £15 per rock. Anyone interested?

You'll need a few thousand people for a start Mark; double blind tests with only a handful of peeps mean nothing.

[url= http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/Power-Balance-Silicone-Wristband-Bracelet-S-M-L-10color-/280571927036?pt=UK_Health_Beauty_Natural_AlternativeTherapies&hash=item415363d9fc ]wow cheap[/url]

there you go, 1.19. i might buy one and see the results.
its a bit like them oreo watches or watever they were that were made of some special rubber to make you concentrate better, BS

Those must be fake, they wont give you the same placebo effect.

Well it does have some effect. I bought one for the SO. One thing that is sure. It obviously don't make her ride her bike like AN Chausson, BUT (and that is a big but in my book) when she wears it her cornering is better. She seems to have more facilities/less apprehension to tilt the bike over on the apex of an hairspin.

My LBS sells them and so far the best customers are home-nurses... As apparently old people are less prone to fell of when searing them...

Not really the case Kelvin. It depends on the test you do. If it's simple and repeatable and therefor simply repeated by many others then the results build into evidence from which a conclusion can be reached. So, what experiment would you suggest?

We want a suggestion for a test that we will conduct. We will release the results of our test and encourage others to do the same. Data will henceforth accumulate and we can all then base our conclusions on the evidence.

BTW.. We did the same tests these reps were doing on our stand but instead of using their bands we used the apples we'd bought for our lunch. Guess what we found out?

If anyone wants to know where we bought our apples from you can send us £30 and we'll tell you 🙂

Mark, I'd be interested to see the results of a test where you give a load of people the bands, but tell them they make you better at doing something else, eg: remembering stuff. Then see what happens.

Those must be fake, they wont give you the same placebo effect.

Both my cashpoint and my credit card have holograms on them. Might tape them to my wrists.

how can it not give the placebo affect, the word placebo describes that basically the band does nothing its all psychology. so therefore a 1.19 one will do the same thing as the £30 one

You mean they don't make you sing like Brian Molko?

The amount paid for a 'placebo' does have a measurable effect on the result due to the fact you have laid out a lot of money for it and therefore if it doesn't work you will feel a right tool.

This has been suggested with tests on painkillers from supermarkets where the measurable effects of a leading brand have been better than those of a cheaper/supermarket's own brand despite the actual drug being the exact same substance in each case.

See Ben Goldacre's book, Bad Science for the references.. In fact www.badscience.net is well worth a look.

Idea for a test? Get the salesman to jump across the canal 100 times; 50 times with the hologram in place, 50 times without the hologram. Compare the number of times he falls in with and without the help of the hologram.

Surely you don't have to wear them on your wrist, so how about stuffing them up people's backsides so they don't know if they've got a £30 one or just a normal rubber band?

Well I've just bought one for a laugh, I shall wear it the next ride after it comes and I will report back my findings.

I say well done to Chain Reaction Cycles, for recognising what feeble minded, gullible people their customers really are.

Serving up £30 plastic tat, and treating us with the contempt we so richly deserve. 😯

My doctor has had to start prescribing me 250Mg placebo tablets as the 100Mg ones weren't working as well any more.

Placebo's are a sillpery slope - will we all end up carting around 30cm holograms in 3 years time.

[img] [/img]

I tried one of these and it made my hand go blue. Am I doing something wrong?

We spoke to one of the sales reps at the Cycleshow. His final word on the matter was that if it's just a placebo and it has an effect is that so bad?

Yes, it's bloody despicable. People might have genuine medical problems and believe this total BS can help them, which it can't.

See my second post on this thread re ovarian cancer. The more i think about it the more angry it makes me. Even if it does just signify some donation to an ovarian cancer charity it implies an endorsement of the product.

mark randomally pick a number of routes, rocky , rooty, muddy, singletrack [ sorry you are oop north try your best on that one]
All use the same bike specced from whichever sponsor is daft enough too provide bikes for this...fingers crossed you know a bike building publicity hungry local manufacturer to support you 😉
Randomally asign bikes to riders on the day.
Match riders to ability one with band one witout - third rider rides with them and also scores the Gnarness of each- not quite objective but best I can think off. At end of ride rider says how stoked they were as does the third rider. I cant think of a trully objective measure you can use sadly,
Repeat till all riders have done each trail once with or without band.
Compare scores
Make eroneous claims about how science has proved blah de blah using a baddly scaled graph ...it is the stw way. Perhaps use language you dont understand the scientific use of like proves, without doubt , for certain in your conclusion.
Make your own with stw logo and retire on huge profits with a warm glow in you heart knowing you have made us all ride better and improved the popular understanding of science

no one written any comedy reviews on crc yet??

No need, the main description is comedy enough.

Kimbers you are a scientist help us with this resaerch dude.
FFS wasting your time trying to cure cancer when you could holographically make me more rad -why do i waste my tax money on peorpl like you?
Can you get one that says rad to the sic?

actually im coming up with a treatment involving these right now

as the institutes latest research has resulted in halting advanced stage prostate cancer im investigating the effect of wearing one round the balls - that should cure the disease for good

The people are the cycle show collared us also.
Tested my missus and my mate, with the standing on the leg thing.
Missus was amazed and was desperate to buy one.
Luckily I was holding the wallett.
Hmm...

Well if you want to do some stats you indeed need several thousand of people. Or at least several hundreds. But you cant do double blind straight away. You need to test the first thousand with telling them whether or not it's the power balance. Then once that is done you can do the double blind test (during ride might be a good idea) but you can't know what you're giving to people (get tj to pick up 2 PB and remove the hologram then tapes then). To be thorough you should discriminate by age and possibly gender. I have to admit I am very doubtful about it, and I won't buy one. However, it does to some extend work with the SO when she on the bike (no effect on at ballet though). I need to get her to ride a couple of times without on the usual route to see if she got back to a less good cornering.

just looking, there meant to have holograms on them yes? aren't holograms the silver shiny things? the pictures are colours?

Power Balance® is based on the idea of optimizing the body’s natural energy flow, similar to concepts behind many Eastern philosophies. The hologram is designed to respond to the natural energy field of the body. The Mylar material at the core has been treated with energy waves at specific frequencies. The resulting Mylar is believed to work with your body’s natural energy flow to help enable you to perform at the best of your ability.

I need to get her to ride a couple of times without on the usual route to see if she got back to a less good cornering.

That would not be the way to test it. Not if you wanted to eliminate the placebo effect. If she rides without it she's going to think she no longer has the advantage of wearing it. That will likely affect the results. Much better to swap the band for one that looks just the same but with no hologram. She mustn't be able to tell the difference. ergo our idea to remove the hologram from one of the bands and tape them both up so the tester can't tell which is the 'live' one and which is the 'disabled' one.

Do that and record the results.

Then repeat on more people.
The more the better etc..

We were told the hologram does not need to be in contact with the skin for it to work btw. So taping it up shouldn't make any difference.

Someone 'up there' said they'd bought one 'for a laugh'.
£30 for a laugh?

Send me £30 and I'll tell you a really funny joke 🙂

clubber, if they did them in purple with a gold hologram you'd have one straight away.

From above

The Mylar material at the core has been treated with energy waves at specific frequencies

I'd be interested to know if they actually do anything to treat the mylar with energy waves at all, seems to me to be a point where they could have slipped up.

This vid shows how the snake oil lads do slightly different moves to give different results. -

Dearest Brant
Thank you so very much for your tireless scepticism. Now I know how it's done will be using kisses in lieu of actual props.

Everything is worth what someone will pay for it. That goes just as much for blingtastic bikes as it does for rubber bands. Good luck to them wish I,d thought of it first.

Here's a link directly to the "how they do that" bit -

Has anyone got a contact for David Beckam or Madonna? I bet they would dig this.

People are stupid.

Not directly related to the matter at hand, but nonetheless some interesting reading on the subject of placebos:

http://www.wired.com/medtech/drugs/magazine/17-09/ff_placebo_effect

Good luck to them wish I,d thought of it first.

Are you really so surprised? The best selling book in the English language is the bible

The Mylar material at the core has been treated with energy waves at specific frequencies

This is actually true. The holograms are produced the same way as all holograms ie. using a laser as the source of light that is essentially split into two beams. One of the beams is then deflected away from the target object to be 'photographed' and bounced around a few mirrors before it is directed at the object. So effectively what we have is a beam of light split and then one half is sent on a longer route to the target object. The two beams then strike the object and the reflected light is then scattered and 'collected' on a photographic film. The film is then processed in the normal way that any photo is processed using chemicals and wotnot.

So, since the laser used is set at a specific frequency it is actually true to say that the mylar film has indeed been treated with energy waves (laser light)at a specific frequency.

It's just another way of saying it's a photo.

I found it frankly ironing that people believe in the 80£ placebo effect of the odd 40grs saving in buying a XT/XTR cassette rather than a SLX/XT but not that.
As I said not a conclusive proof, but if it helps a little bit why not. It still is cheaper than a XTR cassette 😉

Sticks XTR cassette on scales and then compares to XT and SLX ones.

Yep, definitely lighter. Measurable. Will it make you significantly faster/more attractive/etc? No but it's not lying about what it does.

So, since the laser used is set at a specific frequency it is actually true to say that the mylar film has indeed been treated with energy waves (laser light)at a specific frequency.

Indeed any plastic product will have been treated with energy, the heater in the screw of the moulding machine will probs run on AC at 400Hz depending on system specs. I say get some nice tiddly winks and keep them in your pocket. You can get 144 of them [url= http://www.topmarktoys.co.uk/products/Gibsons-%252d-Tub-of-144-x-22mm-Coloured-Counters.html ]here[/url] for 6.99 that's approx 5 p each. Shall we club together and buy in bulk?

Indeed any plastic product will have been treated with energy, the heater in the screw of the moulding machine will probs run on smoothed DC converted from AC at either 50hZ or up to 400Hz. I say get some nice tiddly winks and keep them in your pocket. You can get 144 of them here for 6.99 that's approx 5 p each. Shall we club together and buy in bulk?

You'll get nowhere calling them "tiddly winks". They are direct energy discs created using the same direction of energy that some believe flows in lay lines across the world and diverge at mysterious ancient sites such as Stonehenge. By channeling it many have felt benifits in their balance.

and your bank balance.

You'll get nowhere calling them "tiddly winks". They are direct energy discs created using the same direction of energy that some believe flows in lay lines across the world and diverge at mysterious ancient sites such as Stonehenge. By channeling it many have felt benifits in their balance.

and your bank balance.

Ooops consider me educated 😳 thanks.

OK, i think this is the right thread to put this out there:

I've been secretly developing "Faster Phils Faster Fills" sticks for a couple of years now, this product is aimed at drummers who want to play fills is a higher speed and generally improve their drumming, co-ordination, timing and rhythm... as well as their future.

The new Faster Phils Faster Fills sticks are tuned to be in perfect harmony with your bodies natural frequency, with no stages inbetween your hands and the sticks, you'll find they respond to your exact movements, even if you speed up!

With practice and the new confidence that can only be gained by paying me 60pounds you'll find your drumming will improve.

Our Sticks are stored in a room that contains both a dream catcher near the window and a small glass "angel" that i've been assured by an angel therapist will ensure no bad energy waves will reach your sticks. I have had a Tarot reading to double check and apparently if i work hard my future might be better, so rest assured lots of ahrd work ahs gone into these sticks.

Who wants one?*

*sticks may be the cheapest sticks i can find at the local music shop but with "phils" written on the side in permanent marker, drummers must practice to enjoy the new skills provided by Faster Phils Faster Fills Sticks.