From In style Mechanics
On the Cyclocross World Championships earlier this month, Belgian bike owner Femke Van den Driessche had her bike confiscated by the UCI-the governing physique of professional cycling-and a motor was discovered hidden within the seat tube of the body. Imagine it or not, hidden motors, or “mechanical doping,” has been on the UCI’s radar for a while, although that is the primary time {that a} motor was truly found in competitors.
These motors are nifty if doubtful little contraptions. The Vivax Help is likely one of the hottest fashions, although the UCI has not specified what motor was present in Dressche’s bike. The 22-cm (8.7-inch), 750-gram motor is slotted into the highest of a motorcycle body seat tube and pushed all the way down to the underside bracket. The motor equipment comes with a gear ring that’s positioned over the crankshaft and connects to the underside of the motor.
The button to activate this motor connects to an digital management unit that’s housed in a particular seat put up (supplied with the motor equipment) and routes to the motor through the seat tube. The usual equipment comes with a battery bag that may be tucked underneath the saddle, although Vivax Help provides an Invisible Efficiency Bundle that hides the battery and activation button in a water bottle to “invisibly rework your racing bike into an e-racing cycle” (see video under). The setup weighs between 1.8 and a couple of.2 kilograms (4 to five kilos), relying on battery choices, nevertheless it offers an extra 100 to 150 watts of energy to the driveshaft.
Ostensibly, motors just like the Vivax Help had been created to offer commuters a larger vary and permit older or much less proficient cyclists to experience with sooner mates, and the Invisible Efficiency Bundle was developed to retain the aesthetics of your bike. However clearly the design has made its means into skilled competitors.
h/t Biking Ideas