The Olympics ! (spoilers etc..)

[smutchin]

that single front brake with the flapping cable looks next to useless - a few riders managed to crash into the barriers beyond the end.

I thought it was a rear brake, and that they only use it to scrub off a bit of speed rather than to stop outright - in fact, I was surprised they have brakes at all. Like track cycling, BMX racing looks like the kind of event where using your brakes could be very dangerous. And it looked to me like they were deliberately using the crash barrier for stopping.

Falling off also looks exceptionally painful.

The commentators mentioned that one of the top US women wasn't present at the games due to an accident in which she suffered a "lacerated liver".

d.

 

[dellzeqq]

Is it just me or does anyone else think the riders on the BMX bikes look like people who should grow up and ride real bikes? They look real saddos to me.

it's not just you, but I disagree. Not least because I'm almost sixty and ride around in lycra.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I thought it was a rear brake, and that they only use it to scrub off a bit of speed rather than to stop outright - in fact, I was surprised they have brakes at all. Like track cycling, BMX racing looks like the kind of event where using your brakes could be very dangerous. And it looked to me like they were deliberately using the crash barrier for stopping.



The commentators mentioned that one of the top US women wasn't present at the games due to an accident in which she suffered a "lacerated liver".

d.

Yes, you're right, it's a rear brake. Come to think of it, I'd noticed how the cabling was routed along the top tube. I suppose I'd assumed that if there was only one brake it would be the front.