UCI ? Leave my bike alone ? POST YOUR SUPPORT.

[chance]

UCI ? Leave my bike alone ? POST YOUR SUPPORT.

Do you have a carbon aero bike, Zipp, vision HED 3T etc, is your road bike is looking a bit shapely and aero. Perhaps you like the shapes you see in time trials on the TV. Well the UCI are on the ban progress path again. ( tour of California 2009)

You?ll have read with interest the moves by the UCI of late to interpret the Fairing rule 1.3.024 as applicable to handlebars. While the focus has been on pro teams, I imagine a lot of you like me have spent your hard earned cash on your nice race bike. If you think this will stop at bars..

The ?/$/E100?s you spent on your UCI licence may allegedly be used to ban your investment!

Without any notice the next UCI event your at could be the one where they tell you ?the rules are clear? and you can?t race. If you find this hard to believe mail the UCI and ask them. I did. I?m riding the same spec used in 2008 by pro teams and at the Olympics, as I expect a lot of you are. Your not safe from the ban the bike philosophy!

BUT if you, like me have had enough of the bureaucratic, officious, ?the rules are more important than the sport? approach then post your reply and let the UCI know how you feel and maybe there?ll remember they are organising a sport for more than a 180 pro riders and that the people who pay for this sport have a right to say how their sport is run.

(If you only post 10 reply?s guy?s then your next race photo could look like eddy merckx, and while retro and eddy are cool, choice is cooler)

thanks for reading

 

[BroDeal]

The ?/$/E100?s you spent on your UCI licence may allegedly be used to ban your investment!

Bikes are not an investment. If you cannot afford a new handlebar then you should not be racing.

I think there is a lot to be said for going to a tiered system like open wheel racing, where the widest technological lattitude is given to the top tier and the lower tiers use less advanced (and less expensive) technology. Ban all the aero stuff from amateur racing. New racers should not have to feel they are at a disadvantage because they don't have aero wheels, aero handlebars, aero bike, etc. Heck, raise the minimum bike weight by a kilo.

I think there is also something to be said for going old school with the sport and limiting all sorts of things just like some forms of car racing have banned turbos, carbon brakes, etc.

 

[mr. tibbs]

I agree with BroDeal: All these great advancements in bike technology aren't really neccesary for non-pro racers, especially the silly TT aero set-ups.

In fact, I don't think it's really neccesary for pros, either. It's all just a gimmick, and the only reason the manufacturers make it and pay the pros to ride it is so us amateurs will spend top dollar on it.

I for one don't mind riding on the same reliable technology that was winning grand tours and classics a decade ago.

Sorry for hijacking the thread

On topic, now: I don't think you have to worry about the aero stuff getting banned. The sponsors and manufacturers make too much money off of it, so it's here for good.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

I'm all for the advancement in technology of our sport, and I do not agree with all the decisions that the UCI makes. But you have to understand that many of these cutting edge parts are riding the fine line of strength vs. weight. Especially among the pro ranks where new products and technologies are pushed to the absolute limits, the safety of the rider cannot be overlooked.

 

[chance]

aero rules

Hey don?t apologise for hijacking the thread debate is good, choice is good and I guess the point of the forum is to let people have their say. I have round traditional bikes too, my point is choice and the clarity with which the rules are communicated.

Again thanks for reading

 

[chance]

aero and safety

your right about the safety point, so the rules should focus on testing standards i guess, I'm not saying you should be allowed a fairing in the TT in the tour, but you shouldn't have to worry that today the UCI changed their mind from the last 50 races and ban your bike. look at Obree, that bike was not a high cost high tech solution, but it was ban, ban, ban,

Great to see other views post away

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

I understand the 3:1 rule will adversely affect some manufactures. In the grand scheme of things, they will pay to play. The new UCI ruling does not directly affect people racing in the amateur ranks.

 

[Tapeworm]

Whilst I can understand the emphasis on the athlete not the equipment I am curious as to why that other sport that uses bikes seems not to really care in terms of development?

I see the need for aspects like the hour record to keep things on a level playing field, it allows the record to be comparable throughout the ages.

However I don't want to be looking at the peloton racing on machines that look the same they did 20 years ago either. The technology is one of the interesting aspects of the sport for me and without any innovation it may even hamper the sport. Why buy a new bike if there is no improvement or change (apart from aesthetics)? If overbearing rulings from the UCI hamper the bike manufactures then this will in turn hamper the sport. They need to meet somewhere in the middle.

 

[RDV4ROUBAIX]

Technology can only move so fast. The majority of the pro peloton was still riding steel frames up until Ivan Gotti won the Giro in '97 on a aluminum bike. In the case of aero, and lightweight carbon parts and bikes, there is much more scrutiny involved, especially as weight goes down.