Milan Vader takes advantage of a UCI legal loophole and converts his Cervélo to a hardtail for the Short Track of Nove Mesto

Dutchman Milan Vader returned to the mountain bike World Cup at the Nove Mesto Short Track with a new team bike, the Jumbo Visma, and a brand new bike, the Cervélo ZFS-5. There were plenty of reasons to notice him, but in the end all eyes were on the center part of his bike and this piece that turned his full suspension bike into a hardtail.

Vader turned his Cervélo into a hardtail with this part

As in Formula 1 and so many other sports, racing regulations help teams and athletes to make the best use of the equipment and conditions they have. This often results in major breakthroughs in product and material innovation or original responses to problems that arise.

In this case, Dutchman Milan Vader decided to race on Friday by replacing the rear shock and linkage of his new Cervélo ZFS-5 with a rigid piece of machined aluminum construction that locked down the entire rear suspension system and saved significant weight.

The current UCI regulations oblige riders to compete in the XCO race on Sunday with the same bike as they do during the Short Track on Friday, but they are allowed to change their components. This causes riders to always choose the most suitable bike model for Sunday's race, almost always a full suspension bike with the current trend of technical circuits, although this is detrimental in a race as explosive as the Short Track, where a hardtail would always be the best option.

With this problem, it seems that Cervélo engineers, with the help of the experienced Milan Vader, took advantage of the development of their new ZFS-5, the brand's first full suspension, to create an aluminum part that converts the entire rear suspension system into a hardtail bike.

This solution brings reactivity to the whole, although it will never be as much as a rigid frame, but above all it represents a significant weight saving that could be up to 400 grams.

This part completely locks the rear suspension system with what looks like a simple component change, but for those who see here the opportunity to have a hardtail and a full suspension bike with the same frame we can only ask for caution.

It seems like a great solution, if the UCI doesn't finally make a decision and issue a regulation prohibiting it before the rest of the teams rush to copy it, but it doesn't seem like a good idea for use outside of professional competition because it increases the stress on the carbon in the compromised areas, forcing it to absorb all the forces that previously fell on the shock absorber and the crank.

We are sure to have more news soon on this issue and we will see if the UCI takes action on the matter or the rest of the teams decide to join this practice.