UCI ruling doesn’t affect us (much)
Last week we posted on social media that the UCI had in effect banned our TT mount. However, it turns out that it isn’t! yay!. Well, sort of. We got in touch with the techie rule setters at the UCI to clear up the confusion and help us inform our beloved wind cheating customers.
As you may know UCI rules aren’t the clearest and rules 1.3.023 & 1.3.024 are a little ambiguous and open to interpretation.
Way back in May 2019, and about a year or so after we started selling our TT mount, we thought we should check its UCI legality. We poured over the regs and couldn’t see anything but decided to double check with a quick email. This was emphatically responded to with a “There is nothing in the UCI regulation to forbid this kind of solution. You can have an element fixed on both extension to support the head unit”. Super duper! we thought and carried on our merry way safe in the knowledge that all riders using our mount would benefit from improved aerodynamics and safety from the freedom to place their device where it’s needed rather than where it fits. That was until this Spring 2021 when GreenEdge cycling was told that our TT mounts fitted to their bikes were not allowed!? Pourquoi? We immediately sought clarification and discovered a small change to wording which was applied in October 2019 but only just being enforced.
Regulation 1.3.023 forbids multiple binding elements between extensions. Despite being non-structural or ‘binding’ our two-sided designed mount (including aerobridges and the like) count as a ‘binding element’. The problem is that the extensions that Green Edge use have a stabilising plate at the top of the bar stack. This plate is also deemed a ‘binding element’.
Still awake? ok, so in basic terms, our TT mount design which attaches to both bars is deemed to be a ‘binding element’ and is UCI legal unless another ‘binding element’ is used. i.e. if there was an additional bridge plate between elbow cups or a one-piece elbow cup then that is not legal to the exact letter of the law. Better?
Don’t Be Alarmed
These UCI rules will only affect a very small amount of cycling events such as the UCI World Tour, National champs and other events at the highest levels. Triathlons, Club & Regional TT and UK CTT events are all unaffected as they are not part of UCI regulation.
But Why?
I here you ask. Well, its down to the UCI believing certain areas of rule risk takers were apparently adding multiple ‘binding elements’ to their extensions and gaining an unfair advantage. Pah! no really! From our point of view it’s just a bit silly. Our TT mount was designed with a couple of things in mind. Safety and aero. Being able to place your computer device where it can be seen easily means you aren’t taking your eyes off the road. This obviously improves safety when knocking out a club 25 down the A11, maintains concentration and helps the rider maintain that ever so critical aero body position. The UCI in our opinion is prioritising preventing aero gains over safety.
Regulation 1.3.0.24 “For frameset accessories that are subject to the 3:1 rule, the minimum section dimension is 1 cm (in any direction).” In short, the bracing elements must be a minimum of 1cm high and the front to back dimension must be no more than 3 times the height and 4cm in total. This is not an issue for our mount (with the computer attached). However, we believe that many stabilising plates break this rule and may no longer be allowed.
Alex Dowsett using our TT Race mount with a legal setup.
Need A UCI Compliant Set-Up?
The (not so simple) solution is to change our TT mount design so it only mounts to one extension. This will require using a rigid, stronger and single sided clamp rather than the current hook and loop straps which allow a greater variety of fit to many bar types and areas. Each clamp will need to be specific to the bar profile which will take a bit of time creating and getting hold of the data. Initially, we will be creating a solution for the Vision TFE extensions that GreenEdge run on their bikes, a 22.2mm round option and an option for Drag2Zero extensions. If you can offer some help with data for non uniform round bars it would be very much appreciated.
For the many of you that wont be doing world and national UCI events rejoice! its still good. You can still enjoy the pure symmetry of a two sided design!
Dont take our words for it. Make sure you follow up your homework at the UCI website. Clarification guide of the UCI Technical Regulation.