Completely Unfaired class

I think we are probably extending this too far; with less than 100 competitors throughout the year, with on average about 35 per race we seem to be making too many distinctions. I have always come to races with the intent of doing as well as I can, over the years I haven't felt resentful that I couldn't beat people because their machines were better, it just gave me the inspiration to build better.
The Sports class provides a bonus for those who only(?) have a road machine, why should the other classes? Remember this is RACING we are talking about.

GeoffBird wrote: Adrian wrote: "I would add, though that this is on a route carefully chosen to avoid the possibility of encountering any fast-moving lorries and their attendant blasts of wind." So not really practical then... This is the problem with trying to define 'practical'...

There's a problem with defining any class other than Unrestricted.

Which is why I think we could logically have no classes, but instead have first-past-the-post and handicap (and Junior, and Ladies, and Arm-powered) results in every race. Handicaps to be derived from the performance history of the rider/machine combination.

But it doesn't look as though anybody else sees it that way, so I'll shut up about it

GeoffBird wrote: It's an interesting idea Nick but very difficult to do in practice, even with modern spreadsheet technology. What would you do with someone who hadn't recently raced or not on the machine they turn up with - that's most competitors. Wouldn't who won say more about the handicap system than about the winner or their bike? Handicapping is good for the occasional fun race but i'm not going to volunteer to organise one - it's lots of work.

You wouldn't appear in a Handicap result until you had established a handicap for [you and your machine] in a previous race or races, so you would only be racing  (in the handicap category, at least) against other people with established handicaps. I envisage the handicap being compiled purely on the basis of placings vs. others, rather than on speed. At first, there would be relatively few people appearing in the Handicap result - but the numbers would grow all the time.

I agree that there are various things (make that many things) that don't get thought of until you actually try to work out a set of rules and a modus operandi for running a season-long handicap competition (I spent an evening last week trying to make a spreadsheet to do it)... but I still think it's worth a trial.

Perhaps it would be interesting to run a Handicap competition alongside the existing classes? I'm willing, if wanted, to do the work (I like designing spreadsheets!)

Hi Neil

Yes: go to Page 2, 3rd post of this thread.

Neil F wrote: "You do not want to include nose fairings I see this as a way to develop fast road bikes" 

Neil, you haven't read the rules carefully enough - there is nothing in any of them (read rule 4 in particular) that stops you fitting a nosecone, just a full fairing. In fact, to allow fitting a nosecone is the whole point of the rules. This is what I wrote in the post before:

"If we are going to have a partially-faired class then why not allow bikes with a nosecone and tailbox - they're nowhere near as fast as a fully-faired bike, they are probably no quicker than a good tail-faired low racer and they are practical road bikes. It would also mean that you could make your uncompetitive Kingcycle, Ross or Hurricane competitive by adding a nosecone (and make it a better road bike at the same time)."

As to practicality, my definition of practicality (one that I apply to my own road bike designs) is that the bike should be practical in any reasonable situation likely to be encountered on UK roads. The minimum seat height was taken from Alan's sports class rules - it's negotiable, but I think it's about right.

I think your Baron could be considered a practical bike but you'd have trouble fitting a nose to it, we've tried with Phil Wray's - you can't see where you are going! (see rule 5 of my 'street' class). It would qualify for the unfaired class without a nose anyway, so you would be in the same racing class under my proposals but not the same rules governing the machine.