How to make your TT bike UCI legal
Posted: Wed Aug 25, 2010 9:29 am
For people going over to race in the BC time trial championships this weekend, your bike will most likely be measured to make sure it conforms with UCI regulations.
There's a few things you should check, as you don't want to have to worry about adjusting the position of your bike right before the race starts
1. Your forearms (not your hands though) must be parallel to the ground when the commissaires assess the legality of your position.
2. The top-most portion of any piece of your TT bars (except the shift levers) must be equal to or lower than your seat height.
3. The ends of your TT bars (except the shift levers again) can extend no further than 75cm horizontally forward of the center of your bottom bracket.
4. The tip of your seat must be at least 5cm horizontally behind the center of your bottom bracket.
5. Make sure your base bars are no more than 3:1 width to height ratio. Many tri style basebars are too "aero" for UCI, and will not be allowed. A piece of high density foam taped over the leading edge will make it legal (Peter informed us this morning that you can find it at MEC, used for kayaking)
The best way to check your saddle position is to place your bike on a level floor, and use a long level or plumb line to go straight up from the bottom bracket, then use a tape to measure that the tip of your saddle is back 5cm.
For extension length, drop a plumb line (string with a weight on it) from the end of your bar ends. Put your pedal in the 6 o'clock straight down position, and put a tape along the floor to measure from the center of the pedal spindle to the plumbline. The max is 75cm, unless you're over about 6'2", in which case, they'll allow you 80cm.
There's a few things you should check, as you don't want to have to worry about adjusting the position of your bike right before the race starts
1. Your forearms (not your hands though) must be parallel to the ground when the commissaires assess the legality of your position.
2. The top-most portion of any piece of your TT bars (except the shift levers) must be equal to or lower than your seat height.
3. The ends of your TT bars (except the shift levers again) can extend no further than 75cm horizontally forward of the center of your bottom bracket.
4. The tip of your seat must be at least 5cm horizontally behind the center of your bottom bracket.
5. Make sure your base bars are no more than 3:1 width to height ratio. Many tri style basebars are too "aero" for UCI, and will not be allowed. A piece of high density foam taped over the leading edge will make it legal (Peter informed us this morning that you can find it at MEC, used for kayaking)
The best way to check your saddle position is to place your bike on a level floor, and use a long level or plumb line to go straight up from the bottom bracket, then use a tape to measure that the tip of your saddle is back 5cm.
For extension length, drop a plumb line (string with a weight on it) from the end of your bar ends. Put your pedal in the 6 o'clock straight down position, and put a tape along the floor to measure from the center of the pedal spindle to the plumbline. The max is 75cm, unless you're over about 6'2", in which case, they'll allow you 80cm.