Nice bit of scaremongering there!

In reality the flipside is that only Astana with Bontrager kit appear to be conformant and, as of second stage and on previous form, they have the race sewn up anyway.

If the other teams rapidly adapt kit and ride the TT on conformant bikes they are going to be penalised by a lack of familiarity in bike set-up or if they ride their current TT bikes they MAY be fined by the UCI. Either way, all good for Astana.

All the conspiracy theorists who already believe Armstrong has some magical ability to evade positive doping controls must be loving this ..... now the UCI invent rules that favour his bikes and ban all his competitors' machines!

Wow look at that. Yet another retarded development from the UCI. Wait until they ban carbon fibre, aero section rims and a thousand other things. Honestly when is the world going to wake up and join together and replace this groups of old luddites. They consistently fail to hammer drugs offences, ruin technological development.

With recent advances in materials and aero research cycling could be a glamourous cutting edge sport that industrial companies woud sponsor/invest in. Instead the UCI forgives drugs cheating and makes retrograde steps backward in cycling technology.

Hehe...maybe in the future they will have to race with MTB bikes on the road races...This will be totally anti-aerodynamics...and SAFE by their standards :)

Just wrap a bit o duck tape round the tubes to round em out -£5 max, job done

I agree, UCI needs fresh avant thinking, then they complain why they get replaced by young blood, nothing better than fresh red blood cells, LOL!

UCI out! They remind me of Civil Servants or Health and safety types. Boring old grey suited bearded 50+ year old men with nothing but regulations and rules to fester over. They are harming the development of the sport.

Symo makes a very good point! I don't think it could be said any better! What bothers me the most is that this stuff works it's way down to us the general public at some point. I love going fast on my bike, going faster is even better!

It is complete nonsense and lack of knowledge that this is a new rule. This rule exists, completely unchanged since 2000 when the new rules about the bikes were introduced. The bike and component manufacturers that chose to ignore this rule (as well as a number of others such as the seat tube continuing way above the top tube and becoming a seat post) do at their own peril.

isn't all that matters the bikes dont have engines, that should be the only rule.

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UCI dont get in the way of eveloution. why should you tell us what a bike tecnically is.

The UCI is making a correct move here, official UCI races should be a competition between athletes, not technologies, alas another rule regarding the shape of the frame tubes to stop manufacturers pushing the envelope.

There already are rules restricting clothing, geometry, wheel size, etc., all to deem the competition fair, based on the riders technical & physical skills.

but if the teck is the best and the teams are the best, they all should have the same teck, meaning they are still equal, only more exiting

also it doesn't mean racing is fair for all, i cant afford a pro's bike, this is too little to make the bike the same as mine and yours

There is no doubt that a "lie-down-bike" with a small front wheel and aerodynamic casing would be faster than today`s double diamond frames with 28" wheels, but these are excempt from UCI races on the grounds mentioned above.

There is no limit to how much funds one could put into tech, let`s keep it a sport, not a science.

T

I don't know why the UCI is even concerned with equipment. Why can't manufacturers and teams be free to innovate with their bikes. The whole minimum weight and some of the other rules only restrict creative thinking. As long as the bike is strong enough to be raced without failing and is therefore safe, why should the UCI really care how aero the parts are?

If we're really concerned with competition only being about the athletes then the UCI should issue standard bikes to the teams and force that team to use it for all stages. Then we would have a level playing field and it would be solely about the athletes. But we don't, so clearly thats not it.

I agree with most of what's been said so far. It's not like these new technical advances are outwith the budget of most teams/sponsors. This isn't Formula 1. It's still bike shaped and still has to be powered by a human being. The fact almost every team would have their bike banned under these rules proves that it would be better to update the rules instead of banning teams. This is such a dumb idea.

Also consider that most major bike manufacturers can offer off the peg bikes to the public at large that would be illegal under UCI rules and you can see how backward the UCI are. I can't think of another sport where the equipment available to amateurs would be illegal if used by professionals. The UCI needs to catch up with technology before our sport becomes even more of a laughing stock to the public at large.

As has already been pointed out, the UCI is in fact only clarifying a rule that has existed since 2000 (maximum of 3:1 ratio for any member).

Since then manufacturers have chosen to risk going outside this more and more, particularly with handlebars which have gotten quite ridiculous.

The UCI is quite correct to create rules that stop cycling becoming human powered vehicle racing. Where I wish they had been more consistent is not with the creation of regulations, but with their enforcement.

If manufacturers have chosen to build to 'what they can get away with' for the last few years rather than 'what the rules say', they only have themselves to blame for their current situation.

There is plenty of scope for innovation inside these regulations, I know.

Chris B

I agree that some bike design should be left open but there also has to be a cost factor considered also. I would like to see the rules on the TT bikes opened up a little and keep the restrictions on the every day Road Bikes. If the manufacturers were allowed to go wild you would see some unreal designs but no one could afford them! It is nice to actually see bikes raced by the Pros that some normal individuals can still afford. I think the 3:1 rule should be forgotten and let the manufacturers introduce some new and interesting bikes and parts but keep restrictions on weight as a way to help keep price down. If you did away with a weight rule the bikes would never be afordable! Time to Ride and quick bickering about the rules and the UCI. Neither are going away and the weather in Florida is nice, so I am hitting the pedals today!