Tour de France sock height measuring tool - photo

**Jon** · Jul 17, 2019, 11:50 AM

Tour de France sock height measuring tool.

Fullsize image: https://diqn32j8nouaz.cloudfront.net...l_fullsize.jpg

Previously:

Steam engine powered bicycle - photo
Bicycle saw - GIF
Early 1900s bicycle ambulance - photo
Functioning wooden bicycle - GIF
Railroad track bicycle - photo

**DIYSwede** · Jul 17, 2019, 02:29 PM

-Really? Not an ankle-to-knee center calipers?
Guess most of you would be amazed at our bodies' L to R asymmetry,
and that the tibia and femur diffs makes huge diffs when a bike saddle is your workplace...

Just 2 cents
Johan (cheapskate & ex-TT-rider)

**tonyfoale** · Jul 17, 2019, 04:06 PM

Originally Posted by DIYSwede

;
Johan (cheapskate & ex-TT-rider)

Was that the real TT or an event stealing the name?
Tony (cheapskate & ex-TT-rider)

**bruce.desertrat** · Jul 17, 2019, 04:27 PM

TT in bicycle land == "Time trials" not "Tourist Trophy"

**Toolmaker51** · Jul 17, 2019, 05:56 PM

Of course I know zero about Tour de France.
So he passes a drug & steroid screening and gets nailed for non-sportsmanlike socks?

**Wmrra13** · Jul 17, 2019, 06:12 PM

In case your google is broken, here's more of the story:
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/r...e-trial-429955

**Toolmaker51** · Jul 17, 2019, 06:29 PM

Had to find my goggles first. A wee busy collecting quotes on an equipment move.
.....sock height rules which state: “Socks and overshoes used in competition may not rise above the height defined by half the distance between the middle of the lateral malleolus and the middle of the fibula head.”
The sock rule is part of a UCI crackdown on clothing being used for aerodynamic gains, and came as regulations were extended to ban kit that changes the shape of a rider and forbids non-essential clothing or devices used for purposes other than for protection.
Read more at https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/r...MllXCmLhlqC.99
Apparently then, Mexican super pointy boots or banana hammocks aren't kosher either. Are magnetic [no frame or temples just lenses] sunglasses still OK?

**DIYSwede** · Jul 19, 2019, 10:58 AM

OK, Guys - My bad and lazy mistake - yet again my ugly preconceptions showed themselves, so thanks for your fast corrections.
I just thought the calipers were engineered way over-the-top for mere socks measuring,
but this rule and its enforcement really isn't any more odd than a few other UCI rules thru the years.
I'll try some more self-restraint from now on (can't give any guarantees, tho).

Cheers

**Toolmaker51** · Jul 19, 2019, 05:50 PM

No worries here! Self restraint is highly overrated.
Like you, I've found what seem corrections are really just different observations. It's like the
The Following User Says Thank You to [toward user of choice] For This Useful Post: button. To me, "useful" covers a lot of ground. Might be a machining hack. Might be a web address. Might be thought provoking. But all tied together; positive factors in varying magnitude.

**bruce.desertrat** · Jul 19, 2019, 05:57 PM

ISTR a couple years ago they busted some rider for having a motor hidden in his crank hub, powered by a battery hidden in his seat tube. I wouldn't be surprised if they started trying to sneak things in like the super-slippery bathing suits all the olympic swimmers wear now, although aerodynamic socks are a new one to me.