And The Race Is Decided By--A Hacker?

As I have mentioned in an earlier post, the Campagnolo Nuovo and Super Record derailleurs are among the most iconic components in cycling.  They and their imitators all but monopolized the world's elite pelotons for about two decades, and dedicated (or wealthy) cyclists aspired to having a bicycle outfitted with one of those derailleurs, and other Campagnolo components.

To be fair, those derailleurs offered, possibly, the best balance between weight and durability available at the time.  Also, Campagnolo offered spare parts, down to the springs on the adjustment screws.  It was therefore possible, at least in theory, to rebuild a "Campy" derailleur forever.

The Nuovo and Super Record, however had--shall we say--some interesting characteristics.  For derailleurs designed for racing, they were often balky on shifts between the smallest rear cogs--the highest gears. This  "quirk"—which seemed essentially noticeable when 13 tooth replaced 14 tooth cogs as the standard—for which some riders compensated by shifting a split-second earlier than they might have.  Others, though, complained that they lost time--or races altogether--because they couldn't get into their highest gears for a downhill stretch or sprint.

It's bad enough to lose seconds, minutes, meters or races because of  shift missed due to mechanical flaws.  But imagine your chance at a stage win or wearing a leader's jersey going up in smoke because someone else shifted, or prevented you from shifting, your gears.

According to a team of computer scientists (at least one of whom is an avid cyclist) from the University of California-San Diego and Northeastern University, such a scenario is entirely possible, even in elite stages like the Tour de France and Giro d'Italia.

Earlance Fernandes, one of the study's lead authors and a computer scientist at University of California-San Diego

The fact that computer scientists are making such a claim tells you that the problem is in electronic shifting systems.  "Security vulnerabilities" in such systems, the researchers write, "can affect safety and performance, particularly in professional bike races." In other words, hackers--possibly employed by rivals of the cyclist who's attacked--can exploit electronic an shifting system's weaknesses to manipulate gear shifts or jamming the system altogether.  

From my brief (and I admit, not terribly successful) racing career, I know that a missed shift can not only slow you down.  It can also throw off your timing and equilibrium and lead to a crash and injuries.  The researchers said as much in their report.

The Union Cycliste Internationale has seemed unable (some say unwilling) to stop cheating of the pharmaceutical type.  One wonders whether they can or will do anything about the cyber variety.

Did We Need That Editorial?

 An editorial in Cycling Weekly reminded me of why I stopped reading some bicycle-related publications and websites.

“Are rim brake bikes still needed in 2024?” wonders James Shurbsall. 

The real question, to me, is whether disc brakes were ever needed on any but a few bikes such as tandems, where they have been used for about half a century. As Eben Weiss pointed out, they are the “innovation” nobody asked for.

While Shurstall gives space to two rim-brake devotees, he clearly slants his piece toward the notion that such braking systems are obsolete.  And he uses Colnago’s introduction of an ultra-expensive frame set that takes integrated rim brakes—but is compatible only with electronic shift systems—as a “straw man” for his argument.

I can only wonder whether one of the bike manufacturers offering only disc-brake models paid him to write his piece—or Cycling Weekly to publish it.

Boston Hauls A “First”

 When Citibike debuted in New York City eleven years ago, Hasidic Jewish leaders in South Williamsburg, Brooklyn tried to keep the bike-share program out of their neighborhood. Why? The same reason why another Brooklyn ultra-Orthodox community—Borough Park—stopped bike lanes from coming into their enclave:  They didn’t want “scantily-clad” cyclists rolling disturbing their “peace.”

Although the Hasidim tend to vote as a bloc (including, ahem, for Donald Trump), not everyone was against Citibike. And when it finally came to their neck of the woods, the Hasidim—the men, anyway—couldn’t get enough of it.

I think we saw so many black-hatted bearded men pedaled blue Citibikes down Kent Avenue and Havemeyer Street, their tzitzits fluttering behind them for at least one of the reasons why hipsters in tank tops twiddled along Berry Street Although they have a reputation for being trust-fund kids whose parents buy condos for them, many hipsters are living with roommates in cramped quarters. And the Hasidim tend to have large families which, even in a large apartment or house, doesn’t leave much room for anything else.

All of this came to mind when I read that Boston is about to become the first city to add cargo bikes to its bike share program. Planners hope and anticipate that this new service, like Bluebikes, will become popular and offer an alternative to cars for people who must haul cargo and children. If Bostonians embrace the shared cargo bikes as they have Bluebikes, I think it will be in part for the same reasons Hasidim in South Williamsburg and hipsters on the North Side embraced Citibike. If people can’t store a regular bicycle in their living space, how would they fit a cargo bike?

I would be interested to see whether my hometown of New York follows Boston’s lead—which it does more often than New Yorkers care to admit. (Example: Boston opened the first subway system, a decade before New York’s.)