Slack Randoms: Hellish Hail, No Foot Take Offs & Simon Cowell's ‘Ebike’ Injury

Aug 14, 2020
by James Smurthwaite  
We use Slack as our workplace communication tool at Pinkbike and we have a #randoms channel which we use to share an assortment of videos and stories from all corners of the cycling world on... We thought a couple of the moments from the past week were too good not to share with a wider audience, so here are some of the highlights.


World Tour Riders Battered by Hail

The Criterium du Dauphine is the traditional precursor to the Tour de France and, due to a truncated season, its field is stacked with the world's best riders this year. For road cycling fans, Primoz Roglic's Team Jumbo Vizma battering Chris Froome's Team Ineos into submission is the main story of the week but most riders were battling a different foe in yesterday's stage, the weather. Shortly after the lead group sprinted to the line, a hellish hail storm swept over the Chartreuse Mountains and a lot of the slower riders were bombarded by pellets of ice.


Some riders jumped into the woods at the side of the road for shelter but others toughed it out and ended the day covered in welts and sores as you can see from the photos taken of Tim DeClerq and Maxime Chevalier.

photo
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Mike 'Hucker' Clark's No Foot Take Off

bigquotesPedal your heart out then sit back and enjoy



Simon Cowell Breaks Back on 'e-bike'
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Humanoid wart Simon Cowell made headlines this week, not for exploiting the dreams of a young singer this time, but for breaking his back on an e-bike. Or, at least, that is what was reported. CyclingTips looked a bit deeper into the issue and discovered that Cowell wasn't on an eMTB as we would imagine, with around 250 watts of assistance and a speed limiter, but an e-motorbike capable of putting out 20 thousand watts instead. In most countries, these would need to be licensed vehicles and certainly aren't the kind of things we'd expect to see on trails.

This didn't stop the press going to town on e-bikes for Cowell's injury, for example, ABC claimed the incident "renews e-bike safety concerns" and USA Today asked "How safe are e-bikes".

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The CAB Recon it is reported Cowell was riding.

The UK Bicycle Association tried to quell the flames by issuing a statement that said, "The Bicycle Association, on behalf of the U.K. cycling industry, would stress that what are usually referred to as e-bikes for sale in U.K. cycle shops have almost nothing in common in technical or safety terms with the electric motorbike which was ridden by Simon Cowell. There is very little risk of any electric bike bought in the U.K. causing an unintentional wheelie.” But by that point, the genie was out of the bottle.

As CT's Iain Treloar brilliantly puts it, "e-bikes are recast not as a conduit to exercise, but as something to be feared, and those people that ride bikes are – even if just subconsciously – marginalised a little further.

Given bikes make people healthier, and people keep getting less healthy, that has the potential for far wider-ranging health ramifications than a reality TV star having a rough day. But then again, I guess this was only ever going to go in One Direction."



Jesse Melamed's Psychosis French Line

You can take the rider out of enduro, but you can't take the enduro out of the rider. We spotted this cheeky shortcut on Jesse Melamed's Psychosis run that lets him cut off a corner and keep plenty of speed going into a flatter section. Jesse says the line was pointed out to him by a local and although we're sure other riders took it, he is the only one that has posted a video of it. Some commenters in our article asked Jesse about it and he said, "I figure if I've seen it then a Frenchie has seen it, but that works more at the EWS". Our view? If it ain't taped off, anything goes.



A Lego Mountain Bike with a Working 4 Bar Suspension System

bigquotesSuspension test of the world's finest downhill bike. It uses a 4 bar linkage which is the same as the real Scott Gambler frame



Nathan Williams 'Why Not?'

Paying for a BMX part will definitely be an alien concept for some, but edits take a lot of work to make and Nathan Williams wanted to do something special with this one. Filmed over 3 years and shot entirely in 4k, Williams wanted the freedom to create something truly progressive and that means going independent and hoping people would pay for the finished product. We've seen the full thing and can confirm it's absolute insanity.

bigquotesWith no deadline in sight 'Why Not' featuring Nathan Williams is an independent video project shot in 3 years from California to Texas! With the idea of creating a new platform for a rider and filmer to produce their own content, we wanted to try something different and really take our time to create something special! Shot entirely in 4k/5k 'Why Not' features some of the most progressive riding BMX has ever seen in the highest resolution for your eyes to enjoy!

More info, here.



Hope's Space Age Track Bike for the Team GB Olympics Team

bigquotesWe wanted to share the first part of our incredible journey leading up to 2021 and the dedicated team determined to make it a success.

Since starting out in 1989, we have proudly become world leaders when it comes to engineering bicycle components, something we have done purely to help us ride our bikes more! We manufacture almost every part for a bicycle including hubs, brakes, headset, stems, bottom brackets and lights - all from our home in Barnoldswick, Lancashire. Manufacturing all products on-site gives us total control on quality and delivery schedules and was one of the reasons which led British Cycling to say it was a 'no brainer to partner with us for this project, even it would become be our very first road bike!

This video shows never before seen footage of our committed team making history by creating one of the fastest bikes ever made and finding an innovative way to progress the design of track wheels. Plus, hear from British Cycling on how a cup of coffee turned into a manufacturing first.

We wanted to share just how labour intensive but also how satisfying creating the HB.T has been, revealing the whole process from creating the mould to perfecting the layer of lacquer! We are proud to say all elements of the HB.T are sourced, made and constructed under one roof here in the UK. We show off our experts who give an insight into their day to day activities working side by side to create a truly artisan product.

We also proudly show off our unique carbon track wheels which use an extremely fine-tuned monocoque structure and weigh less than 700g! You can even catch a glimpse of some of the first rides by the Olympic development squad - achieving PBs from day one!


Author Info:
jamessmurthwaite avatar

Member since Nov 14, 2018
1,770 articles

105 Comments
  • 165 8
 So he injured himself on an electric motorcycle, not a ebike. Got it.
  • 27 98
flag naptime (Aug 14, 2020 at 11:14) (Below Threshold)
 E'Bikers It's not a motor bike it's got pedals Infamous Crashes an E'bike with pedals It's not an E'Bike even though it's got pedals.......
  • 127 3
 @nojzilla: Do you ever have trouble breathing?
  • 109 2
 @nojzilla: it’s literally classified as an electric motor bike it has 20,000 watts and can hit 100 km/h. If you put pedals on a Tesla it’s not an ebike even though it has an electric motor and pedals.
  • 58 1
 Correction.... He broke his back OFF the bike, not on it
  • 28 49
flag jorgeposada (Aug 14, 2020 at 11:38) (Below Threshold)
 Wish there was video of Simon mashing his back like a buffoon hahahahahahahahahaha
  • 7 0
 Ebike or emotorbike, he had a 1000 ways to hurt himself without the machine being at fault.
  • 35 1
 @jorgeposada: weird to enjoy watching anyone break their back.
  • 9 9
 New category “Mo’e-ped”
Its like a trans-bike.

New category. “Trans-bike”
  • 7 0
 @nojzilla: It has a throttle. We can call it whatever we want, but it does have a moto-style throttle control.
  • 8 1
 @CircusMaximus:I mean, it would fit in a friday fails reel
  • 3 0
 Except what about Friday fails? @CircusMaximus:
  • 5 0
 @enduroNZ: if there was a video of him crashing, the entire 4 minutes of friday fails would just be replaying it over and over again
  • 3 8
flag LemonadeMoney (Aug 15, 2020 at 2:21) (Below Threshold)
 Who cares? The important part is he injured himself.
  • 3 1
 @CircusMaximus: Normally I'd agree, having broken my own back, but I'm guessing it's not a life changing injury. I think it'd be getting reported differently if it was. As is, it just makes it a little easier to believe in Karma.
  • 7 2
 He was on an E-Bike. The 250 Watt limited at 25 km/h in the EU or 20 MPH in America are actually called pedelecs. Yes, I am fun at parties.
  • 1 0
 This beast weighs 125 lbs! Never in the history of the world was a “bicycle” more in need of a make-over by the weight weenies!!!
  • 34 0
 Man those guys had a hail of a time out there.
  • 4 0
 This event will precipitate changes in the leaderboard.
  • 6 0
 They were really storming to the finish line
  • 2 0
 Who said roadies aren‘t tough as hails?
  • 24 0
 Interesting article on MBR that reckoned the producer of the 'e-bike' sells it as such to avoid all the regulations that motorbikes have to go through in order to be sold i.e plates, lights, speedometers etc. I would say that is probably largely true. Plus, you know, it has a throttle?!
  • 16 32
flag jclnv (Aug 14, 2020 at 11:55) (Below Threshold)
 Like every eBike will in a couple years.
  • 24 2
 Jesse was just doing Enduro. PB is right, if it aint taped, it's fair game.
  • 18 1
 Jesse's corner cut was never taped off in the Psychosis days. In fact, he took a more meandering route then the top guys did back then. There's an even straighter line to the left of where he went that cuts out the turns completely.
  • 1 0
 Where in the video is it?
  • 1 0
 Any idea how much faster the current course is compared to pre redbull?
  • 9 36
flag Kitejumping (Aug 14, 2020 at 13:08) (Below Threshold)
 Enduro racing continuing to ruin trails. If they are going to go off trail and cut switchbacks why not just bomb down the ski run... it's faster lol.
  • 14 1
 @Kitejumping: well for one thing, psychosis isnt on the ski hill
  • 7 10
 @won-sean-animal-chin: same idea though, cutting switchbacks for no good reason. If the trail flows better without the turns reroute it and close the existing one.
  • 11 0
 @Kitejumping: fwiw im not neg repping you. Difference of opinion. Sneaky lines hzve won races for years. Gwinn, Hill etc. Legendary vision id csll it. Its helped me a couple times and a couple times i messed them up for a loss of time(my vision wasnt so good apparently). Most dh racers like wide taped courses for thst reason. Hard to tape all of psychosis but that is what tape is for and the locals know that line so the tapers do as well. Chances are that short cut will be the line eventually. We put in "wet dream drop" years ago. It was one single rut beside the drop with bush on the drop and bush on the otherside of the rut. We knocked the bush back, cleaned off the drop and sent it. It became the line so no one would even ride the rut. Every psychosis race thats where the crowds would gather. All the bush within 50 or 60ft just disappeared over time and now theres about 6 or 8 different lines through that section. Linrs are going to chznge on all trails no matter what you do. Theyll get banked, straightened and rocks will be removed by some people or all people. Fact of life. You want a set course, you tape it
  • 2 2
 @won-sean-animal-chin: same, upvoted you for the locals insight. Maybe it doesn't matter as much on the land over there but here cutting switchbacks and causing trail braiding is considered very bad etiquette and can lead to trails getting closed or realigned over time.
  • 7 5
 @Kitejumping: ya i think thats universal. They just change over time. Wet dream was put in around 96 and dead dog a few years later. A long time ago. I recently recieved a private message from some random "local" because i removed one rock and one root on a tech trail. Small town politics respect ma authourity bs. Kid couldnt grasp the fact that trails change over time and new trails get developed and my rock and root removal was but a tiny fraction of the latest trail work changes and the trail is never going to be not tech. Trails get better and we get new trails is the cycle. I was on that trail when he was still swimming around in his dads wrinkled purse. Just let the path of least resistance happen, in life and on the trail. Its more enjoyable
  • 5 5
 Psychosis is an iconic DH track. I get it racers are going to race but the Crankworx rider called Jesse out for his short cut. To the other racers, he flat out cheated. You want to be the best on that course, ride the course as it is. What happened to integrity.
  • 7 0
 @stinkball: what about the short cut over the rock at the bottom of wet dream?That cuts of similar length and adds thd same exit speed. The course always stayed on the trail around the rock until someone had the vision to go straight over it. Theres countless other examples in the 4k vert of trail. You want them to take the corners, tape it. Pretty simple. Pro racers job is to find the quickest way down the mountain within the tape. If it was uci/ews thats fair and square, or straight as it were
  • 3 0
 @stinkball: He was best on the course, the course was marked by flagging and he didn't go outside of any flagging.
  • 3 4
 I always thought tape marking a course was only used on sharp corners with dropoffs behind them to alert riders of that type of turn or cliff behind the tape. Taping every foot of trail to prevent strava cheater lines just seems crazy.
  • 15 0
 Great, so this week there's a guy with one functioning hand that can ride better than me and now there's a dude who can jump better without even getting out of the saddle. FML
  • 11 0
 Im my early days of riding a few buds and I got caught in a flash hail storm at about 7000 ft elevation on a volcano. Had to crawl under the low shrubs to try and wait it out. Cracked helmet shells and welts all over. Nothing quite like it. Good times!
  • 15 4
 You know, @jamessmurthwaite, that sensationalist title is hardly helping with this sort of issue. If it's not an e-bike and you're saying the issue is misconstrued in the media, why use a misleading title yourself?
  • 5 0
 He put ebike in quotes
  • 3 0
 Oh the title of the actual article, not of the ebike section of the article. Carry on
  • 14 0
 That Hope bike is sick! Nice job everyone!!
  • 13 0
 I know this is an MTB website....but I love bikes of all kinds. Track racing is pretty f'ing intimidating and awesome. That bike is pretty darn cool
  • 3 0
 That Hope video is amazing no matter what cycling discipline you are into.
  • 8 0
 Here is a thought about the Hope bike. Other countries and companies are doing the exact same thing and coming to different conclusions, like when Felt put the drive train on the opposite side. It's so interesting when companies can design bikes without financial feasibility as a goal.
  • 9 2
 I don't get why street BMXers don't wear helmets or why PinkBike has an edit of a guy without one on. I skated for years as a teenager in the 90s and no one wore helmets back then. We'd spend countless days and nights wrecking our brains and bodies at the bottom of a set of stairs. There's no excuses these days with more understanding about concussions and their long term impacts.
  • 2 1
 Uhhh you still don't need a helmet to street skate, the falling is much more predictable than falling off a bike. Biking is way way more gnarly
  • 3 1
 @Dogl0rd: I'm not going to push against helmets, but i completely agree. Most street style activities like skating and bmx are the equivalent of wearing a helmet during Parkour.
  • 10 0
 I did a no-foot landing once.
  • 13 7
 Please don't promote a video which promotes not wearing a helmet. All of those bmxers are complete stoonads. I don't get the anti-helmet crap that goes along with bmx.
  • 3 14
flag 8088yl0n (Aug 15, 2020 at 9:21) (Below Threshold)
 How can a cyclist without a helmet put you in danger?
How?
Most people on our planet DON'T wear helmets while riding.
It is bad for them, but you, and people with that opinion?
  • 8 1
 @8088yl0n: kids look up to them... Why would they wear a helmet when their hero doesnt? Next thing they have a serious concussion and brain damage for the rest of their life


Common sense is not a flower that grows in everyone's garden
  • 3 8
flag 8088yl0n (Aug 15, 2020 at 16:48) (Below Threshold)
 @Curse-of-the-foot-long-sub: I never said that I would do it.
Just stating what I've experienced so far.
Believe it or not I have a hole in my head, since I was 9, I wish I've had a helmet, but who goes to playground wearing a helmet or expecting a psycho to hit you with a rock for no reason? So I was wrong.
Also my friend got shot twice in a belly a couple of years ago, we all know he should have had a BP west... he was wrong.
I think you need to know that I know. But I also don't care about myself, I watch for others, I don't want to hurt life in any way.
  • 9 1
 @8088yl0n: you have a hole in your head?

ah that explains it then
  • 2 4
 @Curse-of-the-foot-long-sub: lol no it doesn't such BS I bring to the table 3 holes are not enough.
Cheers!
  • 12 6
 Wonder if he needed any x-factor rays for his back ?
I’ll see myself out.
  • 9 5
 Nathan Williams needs to wear a helmet. That was hard to watch and really senseless. I turned it off, hopefully before counting as a view. Not letting my kids see that!
  • 5 0
 Simon if your reading this: learn how to tip when your traveling in the US. You are cheap ass douche.
  • 3 0
 Maybe the service was poor?
  • 2 0
 @nordland071285: yes. Terrible service. He should never come back and suffer through the 5 star hotels and world class restaurants he frequented. he clearly deserves better. Strange how the billionaires around here put up with it. They must be less cultured and more tolerant of lower class trash.
  • 11 0
 @nematon785: it sounds like this affected you personally!
I think foreigners find Americas tipping culture a bit alien, but that doesn't excuse not tipping when I know servers do rely on it over there.
I know I'm an alien, but given the choice, id rather tips were abolished : staff were paid properly, the cost of food was set by the menu and that's the final cost,I don't need all the pleasantries (after all, I'm here to enjoy a meal with my friends..not the staff), Staff aren't try-hards but they're conscious of hygiene, and staff just work as efficiently as they can.
To me, tipping causes issues such as prettier waitresses getting tipped more, staff treating some people poorly anticipating a poor tip from the looks of their clothes or whatever..and also the fact that staff are often only being nice for the tip..it seems a bit fake

That said, I respect how you do things and I always tip well when I'm in America Smile
  • 4 1
 On second thought, I think my original post was wrong... Sorry for being a Mr pink! Tipping encourages good service and that's good
  • 5 0
 Ooooh! Raiding my kids legos to build my dream bike!
  • 10 9
 Yo, Jesse's inside line in that corner was not just some cheeky inside line, that is called cutting out a corner. Every single enduro stage in all the Enduro races can not be entirely taped off. There is not enough volunteer power in the bicycle world for that. Competitors need to have a moral code. Antics like that are just not cool. As someone who rides trials that frequently hold Enduro races, it is painful to see your favourite trail after 1000+ people have been trying to ride there bikes just like Jesse Melamed or whatever other pro they follow in hopes of shaving seconds. Trails that once had nice flowing turns turn into straight lines, which ultimately become the mainline as the strava monkeys adopt their newly discovered racer lines. Ride the trail for what it is, the line that has been established.
  • 5 0
 "Kid skins knee on Mondraker E-Balance Bike!"
  • 6 1
 Simon Cowell is such a kook
  • 5 0
 "Chris Froome's team Ineos" lol
  • 5 0
 I took a sneaky line in a race and ended up doing 345 km.
  • 3 0
 Nathan Williams : jumps rail 15ft to floor wipe out - gets up ....
Cowel : does wheelie - breaks back ....
  • 4 0
 Getting pummeled by a hail storm. That sucks big time.
  • 4 0
 Did you know that Lego are the biggest manufacturer of tyres in the world.
  • 4 0
 4k ,with unfocused effect ,and no lid, GREAT
  • 4 0
 #braidshame
  • 4 0
 Hope! Wow!
  • 1 0
 Yes, TreeBeak, that's a pretty good description. "Braking his back", however, leaves a LOT of room for what the hell he "broke", and stuff like that.
  • 3 2
 So you could say that Simon Cowell, of America’s got talent, ran out of talent!?
  • 1 1
 i've been caught riding in TWO hailstorms this summer. Once in Kananaskis in Alberta and once in Revelstoke, i didn't even know it could hail in Revy, i might be cursed.
  • 2 0
 Hope they get to use those bikes.
  • 5 7
 What the f*ck is a 'Simon Cowell'? Judging from that photo, at least physically he's an adult. Is there something wrong about him where he can't be trusted to make decisions on his own? I'm assuming HE chose to ride the motorcycle.. People get hurt on motorcycles every minute of the day-both gas AND electric. Why does this a*shole rate this kind of attention over everybody else who f*cks themselves up?
World's a dangerous place. We need the media and Joe Biden to protect us from ourselves
  • 2 0
 Nathan Williams is too good
  • 2 1
 The ebike stole the comments section once again in PB. Boring..
  • 1 0
 Love the weekly random stuff mix of cycling. Keep'em coming!
  • 2 0
 Looks like a Duplo
  • 1 0
 Another new wheel size *and* a new axle standard?
  • 1 0
 I want that Lego bike ????????
  • 2 1
 Humanoid wart. Yup, thats simon cowel.
  • 1 0
 Breaking your back sounds so final
  • 4 4
 @jamessmurthwaite The ebike filter is not working on this story.
  • 9 0
 If only there was a way to not read it without relying on a filter.
  • 4 0
 @mcozzy: you gotta be kidding. Making own decisions and not blaming others and/or failing technology is so 90s... the new way is to gripe about evil pinkbike FORCING me to read stuff I don’t like!
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