Second attempt if the unicycle breaks (Closed for comments)

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Comments about this discussion:

Started 15 Jan 13:39

For all the jumping Events a new attempt must be given to the rider, if the unicycle breaks during an attempt.

I think we should implement the possibility to give a second attempt, if the unicycle breaks during a race / an attempt, for all track and field disciplines.

My idea:

 

Comment 16 Jan 01:25

Interesting. I am inclined to not agree, but it goes in both directions. In bike racing, you can carry your bike across the finish line. But in top-level bike racing, your team car can show up and swap you out with a fresh bike. Our races are generally a lot shorter.

But equipment failure is a part of life. Should we give every rider a second chance if their equipment fails? It's different for the jumps, which are very hard on the equipment. Breakdowns in Track (or Road?) races are usually due to maintenance problems. Loose cranks, worn out tires, poor inflation, etc. I remember the first-ever "Marathon" race at a Unicon; an 8k race at Unicon IV. The guy that should have won that race had his crank come loose and eventually come off about 2/3 of the way through the race. But that was a Road race; I wouldn't expect him to be allowed to go again, but to be handed a fresh unicycle? Good question.

More discussion?

Comment 16 Jan 17:54

For a road race, a fresh unicycle would be OK with me, while restarting the race would not. But that was not the original question.

For a track & field race, even if you may remount e.g. in the 800 m, a fresh unicycle during the same race doesn't make sense as you lose too much time.

Doing a second attempt after equipment failure, on a repaired or "new" unicycle? I think not if the competitor can be blamed, but this may be difficult to prove - even to define "blame" might be hard. I tend to think we'd better stay away from this at all in track & field.

Comment 17 Jan 16:06

I refuse such a rule. An equipment failure is a part of life if something goes wrong even if you took care of your bike.

Comment 17 Jan 16:24

I agree with Ingrid for Track races. Road races might be different, especially if they continue to get longer. Just as having a rider fall in front of you, equipment breakage is "part of the race" and a hazard riders must deal with.

That being said, for me this discussion should either move to the Road Racing section or be tabled.

Comment 17 Jan 16:36

For road racing, I was under the impression that it would be OK under the current rules to repair or replace your unicycle during a race. I know of several cases this has happened (in Unicons) and it seemed fully legitimate to me. Perhaps that was wrong after all? Regardless, I think we need to discuss in the Road Racing committee whether we want to explicitly forbid OR explicitly allow repair or replacement.

Comment 18 Jan 17:17

I have kicked off a discussion in the Road Racing committee.

Comment 19 Jan 11:57

I think we should decide in general, if a broken unicycle gives the rider a second change either for all disciplines or for none. It does not make sense to make a difference between jumping and racing deciplines.

For me it is part of the sport. If you have problems with your equipment, it is bad luck.
But if we allow an additional attempt in jumping disciplines, I request that we also allow a restart for all the other track and field desciplines like Jan wrote when starting this discussion.

 

 

Comment 19 Jan 12:15

As John already stated, in jumps we have a Material problem. Unicycles are not build for this stress and I see not that this will change in the close future. In highjump for example rider often go for more and more pressure as higher they jump and its a lottery then if the tube can handle it or not. While you get high pressure equipment for race unicycles, you don't get stuff like that for 19" tires. Thats why the situation is different in jumps then in track races. 

Aboutrepairing a unicycle I see no rule that forbid that. In trials it happens so often (for same reason then in jumps).