Thousands of signatures collected against new UCI handlebar regulations

Once again controversy accompanies a change in UCI regulations. A few days ago, the cycling governing body approved a rule that defined the minimum handlebar width for road and track competitions, as well as other measures such as the maximum wheel profile for road races or the maximum fork and frame width for both track and road events. Now, the measure that sets the handlebar width is being challenged by the International Bike Fitting Institute, which has launched a petition against this rule.

Biomechanics request the use of narrow handlebars on the road

The petition launched by the International Bike Fitting Institute on the popular platform Change.org has garnered support from over 2,400 signatures in just one day since its launch, seeking for the UCI to reconsider the rule that sets the minimum width of road handlebars at 400 mm measured at its widest point, i.e., at the bottom; while the width between the levers cannot be less than 32 mm.

Although these measures have been in place until recently when narrow handlebars began to become popular, more for better aerodynamics than for a real need, voices of biomechanics have quickly risen indicating that this harms a large number of cyclists, especially very small riders, women, and young cyclists in lower categories with body measurements much smaller than the average adult cyclist.

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In addition, the IBFI has issued a statement explaining that these cyclists usually fit better with handlebar measurements between 360 and 380, so from a biomechanical point of view, forcing them to use a 400 mm wide handlebar can lead to discomfort and injuries.

The motivation behind the UCI introducing this rule was to prevent the trend in the professional peloton of using extremely narrow handlebars that cause a more unstable bike behavior. However, being a general and simple measure, as we can see, it has left out legitimate users of this type of handlebars.