UCI tightens grip on handlebar width
International cycling body sets minimum size for the component
Photo by:
Sirotti
If you’ve been watching pro races this year, you’ll notice that more and more riders are using narrower bars, in an effort to be more aero. Some bars flare out such that the hoods are anywhere several millimeters in from the hooks.
There was always a maximum width for bars of 500 mm, but as Wednesday, the minimum is 350 mm.
In a press release with new tech rules, the clarification read as follows: “The minimum overall width (outside to outside) of traditional handlebars (road events) and base bars (road and track events) is limited to 350 mm.”
The UCI just made it a lot harder to cheat in a time trial next year
Several riders will have to modify their bars following the new rule, including Taco van der Hoorn who quite famously had a handlebar that measured in at just 300 mm from hood to hood.
Taco van der Hoorn takes control of the peloton with 15 km to go ? #BincheChimayBinche ??
? @cyclingmedia_ag pic.twitter.com/PPpVpLfMRs— Intermarché-Wanty-Gobert (@IntermarcheWG) October 4, 2022
