The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.

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USADA chief off base on missed test
Editor:
[USADA General Counsel Travis] Tygart said. "Arguably, her first violation - missing a post-race test - might not even have been a violation in the U.S."

Tell that to Jason Sager and Cale Redpath, who both missed tests at the Deer Valley NORBA, due to USADA’s failure to follow its own rules regarding posting of randoms and making a chaperon available to escort riders to the testing facility, and to Bart Gillespie, who missed a test at the Michelob Ultra GP Cyclocross, in Gloucester, Massachusetts.

So Mr. Tygart, does this mean that we can now expect Jason and Cale's bans to be lifted, and for the case against Bart to be dropped?

I've met both Jason Sager and Bart Gillespie on a number of occasions, and while I'd hardly say that I know them, they both strike me as the least likely to ever use any sort of performance-enhancing drugs or other banned substances. Heck, Bart won't even drink a beer post-race! And yet, they're both wrapped up in USADA Hell, while Genevieve Jeanson, who has tested positive, who has missed a test, who has had a doctor testify that he gave her EPO (albeit later recanted) will shortly be able to race again after her lifetime ban is reduced to two years.

What's next? Can we expect Tammy Thomas's lifetime ban to be lifted as well?

Steven L. Sheffield
Salt Lake City, Utah

Bring soccer-style relegation system to ProTour
Editor:
So there is all this anticipation over who will get the ProTour licenses. Why not make it exciting and way more competitive by going to a relegation system?

The two ProTour teams that finish bottom of the standings at seasons end get dropped to continental status and the two top teams in the continental standings get promoted to pro tour status. It works for soccer, why not cycling?

This way every team has a chance to gain ProTour status, and no ProTour team is safe from being dropped. It would promote better racing at both levels.

Mark Bertram
Atlanta, Georgia

UCI’s wrong to threaten Vuelta
Editor:
Is anyone else out there gasping at the prospect of the UCI and the ProTour de-emphasizing the Vuelta a España for the sake of scheduling convenience for the Tour of Germany? Just what the sport needs, one less grand tour, and one less showcase for the sport’s superstars.

In a time when you would think the sport's leadership would be circling the wagons and protecting its flagship events, they instead announce their intentions to reduce a piece of the sport's history to just another minor tour. Or is this Spain’s punishment for the black eye that Operación Puerto has given cycling?

The more I hear of the ProTour and its divisive effect on the sport, the more I hope promoters and racers fight back and do away with it. Without the late season climb-fest, cycling becomes smaller and loses a not-so-small piece of its soul.

Don Cunningham
Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania

What’s up with component costs?
Editor:
I will confess to being a bit of a gear head. I love to try different components when they come out. I regularly show up to group rides with the latest stuff on the bike. If the stuff is good, the other riders will slowly upgrade individually.

I was overjoyed to see the cost of high-end carbon frames begin to drop last year. However, a spate of new components has put my tinkering with new gear and simple economic sense at risk.

I will use a set of Dura-Ace cranks as a benchmark. A set usually runs around $300 with a little wheeling and dealing. Apparently, component makers have decided that it is the crank benchmark as well, because the latest trend in manufacturing seems to be making cranks that cost more and therefore, though not necessarily, must be better. FSA's K-Force and SRAM's new Force crank cost around $450. Stronglight and a few others are charging in excess of $500, and the new Campagnolo Record crank is an exceptionally high $600.

The manufacturers do realize that this is the part that turns the pedals? That they are selling one part of a drive train at the same cost as an entry-level road bike? Titanium is not exactly cheap, so why can I get a titanium crank for half the cost of carbon? After all, frames made from the same material cost about the same, so why the huge difference in cranks, or shifters, or anything else for that matter?

Even if I pony up and buy the new parts, the exorbitant costs will keep most of my peers from following the lead. I understand we all have a choice and can spend what we want, but the gear head in me is being driven nuts trying to tinker with the new stuff.

Eric Greek
Columbus, Georgia

Can we have your hand-me-downs, Eric? We’re still on eight-speed Ultegra here. — Editor

Regarding the rant
Editor:
I'd consider starting an O'Grady fan club but for the fact that it would take work, and paying dues would cut into money earmarked for beer. It is patently clear that O'Grady — and any O'Grady fan — would be philosophically opposed to both more work and less beer, so I'll let the idea rest.

Plus, O'Grady would probably hope for free beer and appearance money. And that would be a pain in the neck.

Scott Swanson
Silvis, Illinois

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The Mailbag is a regular feature on VeloNews.com. If you have a comment, an opinion or observation regarding anything you have seen in cycling, in VeloNews magazine or on VeloNews.com, write to WebLetters@InsideInc.com. Please include your full name and home town. Letters may be edited for length and clarity.