More seriously, here are my legit points against the forearms and supertuck rules
Rarely (if ever) has it caused a crash in pro racing
It reduces speed of riders solo or in a small break away, leading to easier catches by the peloton, which diminishes the sport and the spectacle
Pro riders have been asking for safety reforms for a long time, and they have responded with minor changes on their side, and saying you are riding bikes wrong and unsafely, a giant FU to the riders IMO
Its more chance for the ruling to be unfairly applied to riders, as we often see with UCI enforcement of sticky bottles/drafting cars etc
“While they don’t impact safety at the professional level, they also don’t impact competitiveness at the professional level”
Not sure that’s true - people are less likely to try solo-breaks (a la Hirschi) if they aren’t able to use positions that are quicker for keeping away from chasing pelotons
I just wanted to bring back that meme to feel young again…
For my part I’m glad the UCI is in this instance proactive and appreciate the effort (incl. the new rules about barriers and littering, less talked about here…).
You’re writing this in jest, but I am quite serious: it seems pro team riders really want to have another hand position. Surely proper aero bars are safer than virtual ones. (To be clear, I’m advocating for giving athletes the choice, not forcing aero bars on all road bikes.)
I haven’t read all the comment so apologies if I’m repeating something someone else said but it’s worth keeping in mind that the super tuck and virtual aero position was always illegal see Inrng: inrng : new safety measures & the supertuck.
Why now? I suspect it’s at least partly down to Marc Hirschi’s exploits last year which saw him hanging on to his head unit at 50-70kph. I have a friend (ex pro) on the UCI technical committee and it didn’t go down well with him…it’s not something I’d want my son to copy.
Secondly, lets not forget that many pro riders are never happier than when they are complaining. Gilbert and Trentin were the only riders to make the effort to attend the discussion on rider/course safety where these points were discussed. I’m old enough to remember pro riders protesting about mandatory hardshell helmets…
Oh yes. I was wondering about this. The UCI said they consulted the riders, but most riders said they didn’t hear anything. So I wonder what happened there?
Still think the riders should form a proper union for exactly these kind of occasions.
It was only partially in jest. I really, really liked my Drop-Ins and the narrow hand position it gave me. Being on the smaller side, when I used the drop-in position, I gave minimal draft to those behind me, and it felt much more aero.
I would love to see someone take it into the wind tunnel, and see how much more aero the position actually is and what the drag is of the drop-ins to see what the trade-off is and if it is worth it.
My gut reaction is that the drag on those bars is pretty horrific. You have twin horizontal round bars perpendicular to the airflow. That can’t be good…and it is a constant vs. the few times you would actually use that position.
We know from testing that swapping form traditional round bars to an aero HB can save over 5w…I would think you would see at least that kind of added drag from Drop-Ins.
And for those that don’t remember the aforementioned Scott Rakes…
…and in UCI events, we, as amateurs race under the same rules, I think some people are forgetting this.
Agreed.
If anyone has a major problem with either ban, IMO, they have not thought it through, or they are a pro that has gained from being able to do these things in the past
