Geoff, Flanders and lawyer tabs

One, yes it was our Geoff Smith

Two it's not health and safety it's insurance related ... (aka companies don't want to be sued)

Three, yes it was a rather good ride by Spartacus. Mother commented he appeared to have built up more leg muscle over the off season. Wondering whether this is a reaction to injury at the Olympics or just targetting certain things this year.

Quite likely - he regularly points out Eurosport mistakes on twitter. Geoff's opinions are why I don't pay for extra channels.

Anyway, Lawyer tabs today. MTB body armour tomorrow.

GarethS wrote:

One, yes it was our Geoff Smith

Two it's not health and safety it's insurance related ... (aka companies don't want to be sued)

Three, yes it was a rather good ride by Spartacus. Mother commented he appeared to have built up more leg muscle over the off season. Wondering whether this is a reaction to injury at the Olympics or just targetting certain things this year.

Hi there Yes it is or was me,, I .. sent a twitter message a couple of weeks ago to DH when he was commentating on a Flanders event (forgot which one )..a guy crashed and his front wheel flew out and landed in the road,I wrote (to DH )that his "lawyer tags" must have been filed off, 1st point the UCI have insisted that all forks Must retain the "lawyer tabs" which forks makers now must fit due to insurance risk problems,,,GS you are H and S to you know...sorry. DH replied that quote " the forks are carbon so do not have "tags " on them..WRONG..99% of forks made in the world must have "tags".i re tweeted and asked if was "sure" that carbon forks did not have "tags" "SURE" wrong again..yesterday we saw on every front wheel change the mechanics "undoing the Q R skewer to get the wheel in or out,, I re-tweeted and asked if was "sure " that carbon forks did NOT have tags,,you heard his reply.."".some!!!!!!!!! carbon forks do not have tags""...trouble is if they do not, there is a massive liability problem with the team who are using these forks..pheewww..Geoff...PS we have a mutual respect for each other,, I have known and questioned him over 8/9 years.. ,,

Yes Geoff I am health and safety by employment, there is no requirement under current h&s legislation for anything like this so therefore it is either design and use/approval (which would be a UCI control if we're taking bike racing) or a collective fear of being sued by people not checking their skewers are not done up correctly.


Surely defeats the object of a "quick" release?

rostlr wrote:

Quite likely - he regularly points out Eurosport mistakes on twitter. Geoff's opinions are why I don't pay for extra channels.

Anyway, Lawyer tabs today. MTB body armour tomorrow.

Hi R O,at one time we used to correspond with DH via a yahoo.eurosport.com web site, but about 3 years ago he changed that to his twitter page, the reason was that there were a lot of "old sods" watching and listening at his many major BOOBS,(err no not them ). problem was that all the posters could see what was being sent in and I must admit, some were very cynical of DH..now he can sift through what he receives and will or will not comment without being observed..although he has been doing the "job" on ES for 9 years his comments on various subjects appear valid to as he says "newbies" but to us old sods with one foot in the grave it is sometimes a load of old rubbish....oh I watch all the big bike events on ES via steephill tv, Rai 2 sports (Italian) and French TV 3... all free to air. I miss nothing... see ya soon Geoff.. ..

velonews.competitor.com/2013/02/news/uci...rule-in-qatar_274065

its all here Geoff,, ,,

Thank you Geoff, this part says it all really

“I don’t know why they made the rule, but I think it had to do with the insurance companies,” noted BMC Racing mechanic Ronald Ruymen. “You’ve seen in the past when riders crash really hard and the wheels fly out.”

Emphasis mine. I suspect the French teams had to keep it originally because France's laws about design and use are one of the few areas where they are stronger than us (type approval is another name for this, TUV and the like). In Portugal it's even stricter where it's practically illegal to put (for example) a different exhaust on a car or change the mapping of the ECU etc but becasue this forms part of design and use they would have the same implications for "lawyer tabs".

Pretty much most health and safety law says that you shall make a reasonable assessment of the risk and under that the likes of Team Sky (if there wasn't the UCI article) could say that they have done a reasonable assessment of the risk that their riders are more competent than an amateur and their mechanics are used to checking the higher tolerances/requirements for racing and could dispose of the "lawyer tabs". After all as these guys are pros they are subject to HASAW etc 1974 while on their bikes ... As they are technically working ... Not sure if bash hats come under PPE regulations though ... Vibration at work for riding on cobbles ... Down THAT rabbit hole leads madness ...

Hi GS..WOW at last i find a GURU....the mind boggles....i could spend a few hours with you over a pint or 2 discussing various themes,, Geoff.. ..

Not sure guru is the right word for it, I just learn what I need to for my role and understand where it starts and finishes.

E.g. I pointed a certain BBC presenter to the HSE twitter account because he thought a sign saying something was due "health and safety rules" was overblown. Sure enough it was but good common sense said that what they were trying to prevent was a matter of hygiene and could cause slip hazards but there was no "law" (the implication of the sign) against what the place was trying to prevent.

I thought about reading this whole thread, decided not to