[Closed] racing - should 26 and 29 be seperate cats? and what about handicaps?

Pulls up chair

Surely a 26" wheel [i]is[/i] a handicap?

lol... kettle's on

Wheelsizeist.

If you don't feel fast enough on your 26" bike then buy a 29er. Simples 😉

😆

I'm amazed that anyone still rides a 26" wheel bike.

I think it would be good idea to have time penalty if you dab a foot at certain sections.

Not happy today, i was planning to do brass monkeys today but ill so had to miss. Oh well only 3 weeks till next one.

Handicaps, no. Separate cats - well they pretty much have separate cats for people aged 20, 21, 22, 23 etc in the USA so why not have ones for different wheel types too? Why not different cats for different tyre widths?

Since everybody knows that red bikes are fastest shouldn't there be a category for them too?

And beards. They create undesirable drag coefficients and therefore are surely a handicap.

Interesting, I didin't think todays course particularly favoured the 29ers. Perhaps I had just got faster since the last Gorrick, but I found myself overtaking people for a change, 26ers and 29ers alike.

The Crowthorne course 2 weeks ago was another matter. I lost count of the number of 29ers that overtook me on the corkscrew and bumpy section afterwards.

Have to admit to taking a close look at the Merida 29er. Can't afford a new bike though 🙁

Would be very interested to know out of all the broken chains I saw how many were 10 speed though!

Silly me expecting serious debate on stw 🙂

Personally.I really like the idea of handicaps that way everyone would be racing, probably be carnage.

Maybe we should have have a different bike for each lap,

It's all bicycles, run what ya brung, pedal faster to increase speed, only one person wins and chances are it ain't you, so wotsits matter about wheel size, mtb don't need any more fragmentation. Would you ban a racer who won the xc race by riding a dh bike?

Nah, stick them all in the same category 26 and 29 together. Where does it stop, do you say people with carbon bikes are going faster than alloy framed ones thus need their own category?

Taken to extremes you could end up being in a category of your own (29er, alloy, xt cranks, flat barred etc. etc.), though to be fair with my skills/fitness I'd still end up coming second in a group of one...

Everybody could have thier own category...that way everyone is a winner AHHHHHHHHHHHHH.
Yes ...lets reward the people who can't be arsed trying,no need to try and better yourself dear.
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26 vs 29 - I'm yet to see anything that [i]Proves[/i] that the 29er is quicker overall. Therefore how do you handicap.
Personal handicaps? I suppose it beats training...

In my experience any advantage gained from having 29 inch wheels is more than offset due to lack of technical skill of the riders. Plus SPD sandals are rubbish for putting the power down.

lets reward the people who can't be arsed trying

Wooop woooop.

How do i enter that cat?

Can we have a cat for people that ride round enduros filming excessive mincing please. 😉

Maybe not a different category yet, but it would be interesting to see it marked on the result whether people were riding a 29er or a 26er.

Surely if you were going to separate wheel size, you'd have separated full sus bikes out first 🙄

And grey gear cables from black gear cables.

29ers need a longer course to make it fair when racing against the dwarves on their dinky bikes, a bit like always being in the outer lane on the scalextric track.

It will also increase the size difference/perspective in all race photography as the 29er will always be closer to the photographer at the outside of the course making it look like a giant racing against pixies 😀

29ers are not real mountain bikes, just road bikes with nobbly tires

26ers are just beach clunkers with silly wide bars...so there!

No handicaps, better riders should be at the front as they've earned that spot.
26,29 and 96ers ridden them all, and it's swings and roundabouts.

what is the difference between a 29er with off-road drop bars and skinny tyres, and a cross bike? Cross bikes aren't allowed in mtb events (not sure why...is it n safe or un-sporting?). Honest question, as to me the line is very blurred.

I like singelspeeds in with gearies as well. It makes it easier to work out how well your doing against the dangler brigade. (only really applies to more endurance based events as pukka short xc racing will never be worth it on a silly speed)

russjp - Member

29ers are not real mountain bikes, just road bikes with nobbly tires

No they're called CX bikes.

fettling - Member
Would be very interested to know out of all the broken chains I saw how many were 10 speed though!

This 'discussion' goes on at hit the north every year.....[Whiney voice]Well all the top 20 were on cx bikes,therefore cx bikes are faster and thats not faaaaaiiirr[/whiney voice].
Regardless of what they ride....the fast guys are fast.
(and cx'ers am de fastest 8) )

Cross bikes aren't allowed in mtb events (not sure why...is it n safe or un-sporting?). Honest question, as to me the line is very blurred.

Suspect because CX bikes would generally be quicker over most XC courses.

Cross bikes aren't allowed in mtb events

cross bikes ARE allowed. tyres under 1.3 inch are normally disallowed.

if you could fit 2" tyres to a cross bike you could be in.

Forget tyre sizes. Everyone should weigh in at the start line and the whippets should be made to carry extra weight to give the fatties a chance.

Now that /\ I like 😀

thomthumb, that's not a general rule in MTB racing though is it?

Handicaps? Nah

Separate Cats? Nah

An MTB is just a bit of sporting equipment, both takes on said bit of sporting equipment have their own pluses and Minuses, there are all sorts of features that vary from bike to bike brakes, pedals, suspension, etc, etc...

If wheel size really bothers you that much, is mountain biking really the sport to be involved in?

handicaps is funny, reminds me of my mate - he's been racing some races and normally comes nearish the top of the sport class. then some people from the next class up started dropped to his category and he started to place far lower. the irony was lost on him 😆

I've only been to 2 races where a 29er has won.

Anyway, it's not really about the bike, it's about the engine sat on top of it. The tool doesn't count- I've seen races won on 5" AM bikes, XC hardtails and everything in between. If you've not got the legs, 3" on the wheel will definitely not help you.

Forget tyre sizes. Everyone should weigh in at the start line and the whippets should be made to carry extra weight to give the fatties a chance.

Rather, bike plus rider should aim to total 84 kg, this being the combination of the perfect rider weight (73kg, 11.5 stone) and the perfect bike weight (24 pounds, 11kg).

If the combo is under this then the rider has to carry weights to get up to target, if they're over it they have to use a lighter bike to get down to it or, if that's impossible, run carrying the bike.

This way, bloaters lose weight (saving the NHS) and whippets have to eat pies (putting much needed money into the economy). Everybody wins!

There needs to be a class for people with baggy shorts and a class for people in lycra 🙂

other than that, it should be a full on free for all!

Top marks to the organisers of the Brass Monkeys - top event, great course and great weather!!

Brass Monkeys (or any time based event) will always have a vast range of abilities, that's the point, and there shouldn't be handicaps.

XC racing is already category based, so there are appropriate handicaps there.

As for different categories for different bikes... no, that's madness.

As for CX bikes... BC rules say no, non BC-sanctioned races can do what they want. Nick Onslow raced a cross bike at a number of the Gorricks a couple of years ago. I doubt it'd be quicker on many courses to be honest.

thomthumb, that's not a general rule in MTB racing though is it?

thinks it's a gorrick rule (i thought it was more general) I've scoured the UCI rules and it seems you aren't allowed race radio & you aren't allowed studded tyres.

All else goes (so it seems) bring on my 36er brakeless fixie tall bike 😆

As for CX bikes... BC rules say no

2.0 THE BICYCLE

2.0.1 BC in no way wishes to stifle the natural evolution of
the mountain bike in any recognised discipline. To this
end there is only one requirement; that the bicycle is
solely human powered. Any bicycle used in
competition must be capable of safely and efficiently
completing the task and must, as a minimum, be
mechanically sound, have efficient brakes on all
wheels and all reasonable steps must be taken to
ensure the safety of the rider and others. As part of the
latter, bar plugs are compulsory.

2.0.2 If, in the opinion of a scrutineer and/or commissaire, a
bicycle fails to meet the above criteria the rider must
take immediate steps to ensure the necessary steps
are taken to remedy the shortcomings and ensure the
Scrutineer/Commissaires requests are met. Failure to
do so will result in exclusion from the competition.

2.0.3 For Four Cross an effective rear brake is required.

i'm not sure they do?

I remember Mark Thwaites smashing the West Yorkshire Summer Cross to bits on his Yeti ASR.

Likewise, Scott Forbes on a 26" Whippet blasted around our [url= http://www.spamwinterchallenge.co.uk/ ]SPAM Winter Challenge[/url] last year coming in with a good time-gap over a chasing pack of CX riders. That course with lots of gravel tracks and a fair bit of tarmac would be ideal for CX bikes I'd have thought.

He's done that a few times now!

I was having a good tussle with a bloke on an Orange 5

South Wales CX race and I was on a CX bike! Bugger, need to get fitter!

singlespeedstu
lets reward the people who can't be arsed trying
Wooop woooop.

How do i enter that cat?

WTF are you into now, beastiallity?