Seaotter Classic DH on batteryless ebike

[Tim29]

So this past weekend i entered DH on my Fantic Integra 180 Tnt race replica Ebike without a battery in Cat 1 downhill.
Finished third in Cat 1 behind Silva and Roussel.
Both on 15+ thousand dollar sub 33 lbs bikes on a heavy pedal course.
There was a 120 meter climb in the coarse.
No duel crown DH bikes finished in top 10 in any class.

 

[Fivetones]

Great performance Tim! That’s ace.

 

[Dax]

Congratulations

 

[Tim29]

I may have lost some time in big hard G blue groove berm as i burped rear tire on the exit trying to get right exit for better line into next section.
Still can’t. Believe it burped at 40psi with super gravity case. Guess gonna have to go to wire bead in rear.

 

[Donnie797]

wow!! big congrats to you!
the action shots look good!

 

[Kiwi in Wales]

Well done Tim ?

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Well done Tim great result ?

 

[Stumpy]

Excellent performance - well done!

 

[Tim29]

Now i got a letter from seaotter I’m being protested.
Even though i wrote to officials on 3-20-19 asking permission to do so.

 

[Rob Rides EMTB]

Now i got a letter from seaotter I’m being protested.
Even though i wrote to officials on 3-20-19 asking permission to do so.

View attachment 13036

View attachment 13037

What happened?

 

[dirt huffer]

Hellyeahhhh!

Sucks about the protest. Hopefully it's just a misunderstanding!

 

[Tim29]

Seems as since the bike visually looked to have a battery they felt it was active. Even though at the finish all contestants where given a chance to visually inspect the bike and watched me swap out the battery to ride out.
Thinking it wasn’t a contender who protested but rather a manufacturer.
The organization didn’t forward the written request to course officials and there for where not aware.
But i had removed the battery at starting line and installed the empty shell, left back pack next to starting gate with the official prior to running with the battery in it and a team mate rode it down to me after the run.
I just received email that the matter is closed and i had supplied sufficient evidence there truly was no battery.
Also gave them litpro times of practice runs.
Bike with battery off, unrestricted time and legal class1 time and the 3 test runs with empty battery case.
3 runs Bike with battery off best 2.21
Unrestricted 1 run 2.02
Legal class one 2.09
3- runs No battery best 2.17 slowest 2.19
Race run 2.18.
I burped the rear tire and lost 20 ish psi so it slowed me in the race run.
The 2.02 run got there attention as the fastest pro was in 2.09 range

 

[mark.ai]

Glad to see the problem resolved

Interesting to see those times for different runs too, thanks!

 

[Tim29]

It

Glad to see the problem resolved

Interesting to see those times for different runs too, thanks!

It’s almost scary how much faster on a DH run a unrestricted bike is. I didn’t have enough brake power.
I think the litpro times i supplied to officials is the only thing that gave them sufficient evidence i truly competed without a battery, combined with the photos of the empty battery shell. I will add the officials where very open to both sides of the protest. They didn’t make any accusations. They sent me an email saying there was pictures of me that showed i competed on ebike and that wasn’t an ebike race. Protests are usually only valid in first 15 min of the race ending. But when it comes to illegal equipment there is no time limit if there sufficient proof of illegal gear.
Another Ebike manufacturer saw the battery case and reported to officials that ebike has the battery installed!!
So that’s why the protest got traction.
Looking at results. It appears it was specialized as they the only ones who would have gained anything.
If you remove my results S works bikes sweep the podium.
I was quite impressed how they asked me how i felt they could move forward with similar requests from other brands and avoid similar scrutiny. It was a nice feeling to not be charged guilty based on a photo that was pretty compelling evidence if you didn’t know. And they handled it with utmost professionalism and class.

 

[MattyB]

Could you run the bike without the empty case next time to show there is no battery unequivocally? I get that it would leave the contacts open to dust/dirt, but surely an empty plastic shell can't add much structural integrity to what must be a really strong downtube?

 

[R120]

Really interesting to see the data of bike with assist and not

 

[nickB]

Glad it all worked out!
I have used my Levo occasionally without the battery, but only on the road. It just feels like a heavy bike but not too bad as the Brose has very little drag. I have thought about taking out battery to run the dh trails that have banned ebikes.
Is an Bike without the battery still an Ebike?

 

[Tim29]

Ye

Could you run the bike without the empty case next time to show there is no battery unequivocally? I get that it would leave the contacts open to dust/dirt, but surely an empty plastic shell can't add much structural integrity to what must be a really strong downtube?[/QUOTE
Yes we could, but the bike is butt ass ugly and the Fantic logo is on the battery not the frame
That’s why gutted a battery.
It only took me about 2 min to take guys out