In part 2, I will reveal how my time trial bikes fare relative to the somewhat bizarre UCI bike regulations.
The Cougar Time Trial Bike
This bike originated as my first (and actually, only) purpose built time trial frame. It was built from welded Dedacciai steel tubing, and was originally painted in a fetching blue and white colour scheme, which matched the strip of my then club, the Dundee Wheelers. Since then, it's had the seat tube replaced, a respray, and a variety of equipment changes, including an aero carbon fork.
Unfortunately, this bike (at least in the configuration shown above) fails on several counts. Firstly, regarding the overall dimensions of the bike,
- The nose of the saddle is too far forward - 3.5 cm ahead of the centre of the BB axle - at least in part this is due to the slightly steep seat tube I had the frame built with. I could probably shift it backwards in the seat pin enough to legalise it. FAIL
- The tri-bar extensions reach 80cm frm the centre of the BB axle - this exceeds the 75cm allowed by the UCI. I suppose I could go for a "morphological exemption"! FAIL
Perhaps more annoying are the problems the bike faces due to the 1:3 ratio ruling:
- The seat pin (a nice Mike Burrows carbon fibre aero seat pin) fails: the ratio is 1.5cm wide and 5cm deep in the bladed section . FAIL
- The handlebar base bar section varies in its ratio, from an OK 2cm thick, 5 cm deep, to 1.5cm thicj by 5cm deep. FAIL
- I was worried by the front forks - but these appear to be UCI legal - but only just, as the fork blades are 1.6cm x 4.5cm. PASS
The Planet X Time Trial Bike
This bike is built around a Planet X Chrono frame and forks. As it turns out, it gets a bit closer to the UCI regs than does the Cougar.
- In contrast to the Cougar, the nose of the saddle is fine - 7cm ahead of the centre of the BB axle. Principally due to the seat tub angle, I guess, which is that of a more conventional road frame. PASS
- The tri-bar extensions reach 79cm frm the centre of the BB axle - this exceeds the 75cm allowed by the UCI. I suppose I could go for a "morphological exemption"! FAIL
Regarding the 1:3 ratio ruling:
- The seat pin is fine: the ratio is 2.8cm wide and 4.5cm deep in the bladed section . PASS
- The handlebar base bar section varies in its ratio, it's 1.3cm thick throughout, and varies in depth from 4cm to 7.5cm. This is too "streamlined" for the UCI. FAIL
- Once again, I was worried by the front forks - but these appear to be UCI legal, as the fork blades are 2cm x 5cm. PASS
Conclusion
Both bikes are not UCI-legal, but the easiest to convert would be the Planet X bike. It's likely that replacing the handlebar/stem combination with one that's UCI-legal would also address the issue of the tri-bar extension reach. The other consideration is whether I need to worry about this at all. Team Grumpy is concerned that the Duo Normand will enforce UCI regs on all race categories- at the moment this is merely a rumour. Indeed, having seen race officials checking the bikes in the elite categories, I doubt they are competent to deal with the issue to any degree of sophistication, particularly when there are in excess of 300 teams.