Top Gear, 25-1-2015

keef66

As soon as I saw he was trying to ride parallel to the tramlines I told my wife he'd be falling off. Sure enough, splat! Crash looked pretty genuine to me; he hit the ground like a fridge. If you were stupid enough to crash for the camera you'd not fall like that.

I suspect the speed of the fall saved him from sticking an arm out and breaking his wrist or collarbone.

tlw1

coriordan wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

I don't think he fell off on purpose, although when he did I'm sure they used it to their advantage for the 'story'

I reckon this

Yes, prob bought the bike and did the 'sketch' afterwards

aalaap

99% of Top Gear is scripted. I know because there was a shoot happening near my place a couple of years ago and they did an 'accident' take about 3-4 times just to get the right amount of damage. Here's the video of one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bh7unDwp7TE

They do *some* improvisation on the go. For eg. if it really was a genuine accident that took out the Pina, they may have stopped a passer by and 'rented' his bike and asked him to appear on camera and say yes/no, but it's also possible that it was fully planned right from the start and they always had two bikes ready. It could just be a way for TG to show that bicycles are unsafe.

markhewitt1978 wrote:

They said the bike was "Russian pig iron" but far from it, Merida is a decent make, no idea what model it was but it wasn't exactly a BSO.

True this. Merida does make good bikes. That was just May being cocky, like all of them do from time to time! It appears to be a Matts 20-D from 2012, judging by the the colour scheme. Here's a pic of a green one:



This looks nearly exactly the same, just in green instead of red.

It's also interesting that a road bike 'failed' on the road due to the tram tracks and a mountain bike worked just fine, although at a lower speed. Most of us in Mumbai (or anywhere in India) prefer mountain bikes to road bikes because we have terrible roads. There are very few stretches of good roads on which road bikers can actually make full use of their bikes and even those are quite unsafe because of speeding cars.

solosuperia

bernithebiker wrote:

markhewitt1978 wrote:

With that bike 22mph on the flat is not hard at all.

What is it exactly about that bike which makes 22mph easy?

The basic belief that you are better than you really are!
AND if you had.......The more expensive gears, wheels, tyres et cetera, et cetera mustn't forget crash hat? you would be faster than your current level of training affords you.
Suffered that syndrome for years, and ended up with no further to go except more and harder training sessions!!!!!

class5700

Top Gear is scripted to make sure 'interesting' things happen and clever comments are made, but anyone who watches the show regularly will know that plenty of unscripted things happen and off-the-cuff comments as well. it's pretty obvious when they are acting, as they are not very good actors.

just 'being in the tram lines' is enough of a hook to increase the tension, having already seen the trams when James was driving, so I doubt there was any plan to have Richard fall off, just as they couldn't plan having James be thrown off a pony or any of the other innumerable accidents they've had over the years. they always manage to keep the camera rolling and stay in 'character', but that's just experience.

mrushton

The bike will have been a loaner from Yellow the Pinarello importers in the UK who also import Assos which coincidentally Hammond was clad head to toe in, incl. glasses and shoes. He just got caught in tram-lines and instead of just stopping (and not turning the bars), panicked. Seen it happen a couple of times in Mcr when the trams were put in. the rear mech was a broken hanger bolt and it did it's job. I noticed they still had time to change the pedals, mount the bar camera etc

debeli

It's quite fun that an archly pro-motorcar programme has generated so much interest from cyclists.

Clearly, some of the info in the script was horse poo... as already noted, the bike is not sub-1Kg.

I thought the road position was dubious, but you see that doorzone stuff in London too.

I used to cycle among trams (Sarajevo, Zagreb, Belgrade and elsewhere) and can confirm that a road bike is DEEPLY unsuited to the task. An MTB works well, but you need to be aware and cross the lines with the front wheel either unweighted or at a fairly steep angle.

The argument about whether the piece was faked or not is entirely moot. It's entertainment. It entertained. The only box on the sheet was ticked.

bernithebiker

What made me laugh was that when he fell, loads of (what appear to be) energy gels fell out of his pockets. Loads more could be seen in his back pocket.

For a 30km ride? Seriously?

bendertherobot

Why is everyone annoyed about the 850g comment? It's fairly clear he just missed saying frame.

markhewitt1978

bernithebiker wrote:

What made me laugh was that when he fell, loads of (what appear to be) energy gels fell out of his pockets. Loads more could be seen in his back pocket.

For a 30km ride? Seriously?

It may have been for another part of the filming which eventually got cut out?

Ben6899

bernithebiker wrote:

What made me laugh was that when he fell, loads of (what appear to be) energy gels fell out of his pockets. Loads more could be seen in his back pocket.

For effect? Seriously?

Yes, probably.

oscarbudgie

class5700 wrote:

I doubt there was any plan to have Richard fall off, just as they couldn't plan having James be thrown off a pony or any of the other innumerable accidents they've had over the years. they always manage to keep the camera rolling and stay in 'character', but that's just experience.

Somewhat suspicious lack of road rash or torn clothing wouldn't you agree? All I could see was a bit of dust on his shoulder. Its all a load of b0llocks

pblakeney

oscarbudgie wrote:

class5700 wrote:

I doubt there was any plan to have Richard fall off, just as they couldn't plan having James be thrown off a pony or any of the other innumerable accidents they've had over the years. they always manage to keep the camera rolling and stay in 'character', but that's just experience.

Somewhat suspicious lack of road rash or torn clothing wouldn't you agree? All I could see was a bit of dust on his shoulder. Its all a load of b0llocks

I don't know.
The last 3 times that I have come off/been knocked off, my clothing came away unscathed.
I on the other hand.....

ddraver

Can someone tell me why i should give the tiniest monkeys if it was fake or not?

awavey

Debeli wrote:

It's quite fun that an archly pro-motorcar programme has generated so much interest from cyclists.

well cyclists do like cars too sometimes, we arent all unimodal in our transport choices, I only dislike cars when they try and hit me or get too close. 3 buffoons on tv making a comedy travel show driving around in them is fine.

And when theres a crossover like this, it always piques peoples interest, even if its gone a bit bike spec geeky, but inevitably the first thing the archetypal motorist in the office at the tea point says to you is, did you see the cyclist bit on Top Gear last night etc etc.

so as you say it entertains everyone whatever their interest in cars maybe

oscarbudgie

awavey wrote:

Debeli wrote:

It's quite fun that an archly pro-motorcar programme has generated so much interest from cyclists.

well cyclists do like cars too sometimes, we arent all unimodal in our transport choices, I only dislike cars when they try and hit me or get too close. 3 buffoons on tv making a comedy travel show driving around in them is fine.

You don't see a connection between the behaviour of many motorists towards cyclists and the popularity of a tv show that actively promotes aggressive and selfish road use? Top Gear is made by cnts and watched by cnts

ddraver

No.

Pituophis

oscarbudgie wrote:

awavey wrote:

Debeli wrote:

It's quite fun that an archly pro-motorcar programme has generated so much interest from cyclists.

well cyclists do like cars too sometimes, we arent all unimodal in our transport choices, I only dislike cars when they try and hit me or get too close. 3 buffoons on tv making a comedy travel show driving around in them is fine.

You don't see a connection between the behaviour of many motorists towards cyclists and the popularity of a tv show that actively promotes aggressive and selfish road use? Top Gear is made by cnts and watched by cnts

Spoken like a true internet warrior. :roll:

bendertherobot

I love top gear. I own an alfa.

I commute to work by bike. One of 3. 40 miles a day.

I am a cnut mind

homers_double

oscarbudgie wrote:

awavey wrote:

Debeli wrote:

It's quite fun that an archly pro-motorcar programme has generated so much interest from cyclists.

well cyclists do like cars too sometimes, we arent all unimodal in our transport choices, I only dislike cars when they try and hit me or get too close. 3 buffoons on tv making a comedy travel show driving around in them is fine.

You don't see a connection between the behaviour of many motorists towards cyclists and the popularity of a tv show that actively promotes aggressive and selfish road use? Top Gear is made by cnts and watched by cnts

No.

I don't think it promotes selfish road use at all, they try and offer a light hearted slant on electric cars etc and poke fun at eco friendly vehicles but they get their technical facts across in a manner that a layman can understand.

And then throw a super car in for good measure, followed an equally pointless trip across a desert to keep the ratings up.

Now get a grip, seriously.

bendertherobot

If it's true, which it isn't, the solution is clear. Ban all programming which may in any way influence any type of behaviour.

Welcome to 1984.

pblakeney

bendertherobot wrote:

If it's true, which it isn't, the solution is clear. Ban all programming which may in any way influence any type of behaviour.

Welcome to 1984.

The year 1984 was great fun! :P

pinkteapot

I'm a girl, well off my peak fitness and I can maintain 16-17mph on the flat on my hybrid, so if you lot can't do 22mph...

Gutted to learn the whole bike didn't weight 860g. Sounded bonkers but I saw this thread and wanted to learn what on earth the saddle and tyres were made of.

Ouija

pinkteapot wrote:

Gutted to learn the whole bike didn't weight 860g. Sounded bonkers but I saw this thread and wanted to learn what on earth the saddle and tyres were made of.

Unobtanium.....

Holeysocks

Ouija wrote:

pinkteapot wrote:

Gutted to learn the whole bike didn't weight 860g. Sounded bonkers but I saw this thread and wanted to learn what on earth the saddle and tyres were made of.

Unobtanium.....

nah that's Oakley!

mercia_man

Hammond crashed both the Pinarello and the Merida and both crashes looked genuine to me. The crashes all helped to increase what drama there was in the film. Hammond is said to be a keen cyclist but what struck me was his apparent incompetence at riding. He never looked capable or confident on either of the bikes. And it looked to me that he had his saddle set too low on both bikes, particularly on the Merida on which he looked a bit like a chimp riding a bike at a circus.

class5700

Mercia Man wrote:

Hammond crashed both the Pinarello and the Merida and both crashes looked genuine to me. The crashes all helped to increase what drama there was in the film. Hammond is said to be a keen cyclist but what struck me was his apparent incompetence at riding. He never looked capable or confident on either of the bikes. And it looked to me that he had his saddle set too low on both bikes, particularly on the Merida on which he looked a bit like a chimp riding a bike at a circus.

I also thought he looked a little out of sorts on them.

however, the term 'keen cyclist' can probably be defined fairly broadly.

mrushton

however, the term 'keen cyclist' can probably be defined fairly broadly.

That could define so many on this site. The Trek Emonda can prob. get closest to the quoted weight than anything else

rolf_f

ddraver wrote:

Can someone tell me why i should give the tiniest monkeys if it was fake or not?

You shouldn't but you ought to be a bit amused that anyone believes that any of this wasn't scripted including the crashes!

Incidentally, that ride must have seen the biggest ratio of bike value over helmet value the world has yet seen. How many vents did that thing Hammond was wearing have? Five??!

VTech

Everything on top gear is scripted, down to being under the flight path of an airbus A380 for video footage.