"The 33"-Road Bike Racing - aero bikes-legal for road races?

Hello all, first thread.

I've been out of cycling for 10+ years and have recently decided to get back into it. I was a Cat3 racer for some time and want to get back into racing too. However, I want to try some triathlons too.

So here's my question, and forgive me if someone already asked (I looked but couldn't find anything specific):

Are bikes with aero tubing, like my new Jamis, illegal for road racing? I have the older style comet and the down tube and seat tube are oval shaped. In addition, the seat tube has a shallow cutout for the rear wheel. Nothing radical, just a little cup where the wheel would otherwise touch the tube.

Will I need a different frame for road races?

Thanks for any information.

Hello all, first thread.

I've been out of cycling for 10+ years and have recently decided to get back into it. I was a Cat3 racer for some time and want to get back into racing too. However, I want to try some triathlons too.

So here's my question, and forgive me if someone already asked (I looked but couldn't find anything specific):

Are bikes with aero tubing, like my new Jamis, illegal for road racing? I have the older style comet and the down tube and seat tube are oval shaped. In addition, the seat tube has a shallow cutout for the rear wheel. Nothing radical, just a little cup where the wheel would otherwise touch the tube.

Will I need a different frame for road races?

Thanks for any information.


G'day,

perfectly legal.! In general most frames will be legal for road racing, although the UCI has rules on some of the more radical designs & of course a minimum weight for the total bike. Wheels can be an issue, although any purchased through a bike shop will generally comply with the rules. You cannot use 'aero' triathlete type handle bars in a road race (except a T/T),

cheers,

Hitchy

As an official, I can say that Hitchy is correct. As long as your bike meets the UCI standard for a bike (double diamond, wheels of the same diameter), it is legal to race on. USA Cycling is moving to adopting all UCI rules for it's races, to make sure we conform with the world, so bikes will be required to meet the UCI guideline. You have until the end of 2005 to have the correct bike.

So, what this means, is something like the C-dale Aeros frames, and the Cervelo Soloist are legal.

--cyclingute

Is'nt there some rule about the forward positioning of the saddle? I know a lot of funny bikes have far forward saddles and the rule is something like, the nose of the saddle cannot be past the line perpendicular to the road through the BB. iow not more forward than the BB.

5cm, the nose of the saddle has to be 5cm (or more) behind the BB. If you watch the pro's ride a TT, you'll see a lot of riders who ride on the nose of the saddle to get their body forward, there was also rumors of teams "cutting" the nose of the saddle down a bit to get the seat forward.

Andrew

Is'nt there some rule about the forward positioning of the saddle? I know a lot of funny bikes have far forward saddles and the rule is something like, the nose of the saddle cannot be past the line perpendicular to the road through the BB. iow not more forward than the BB.


Yes there is. Just like Ajay said about the 5mm behind the BB.
His saddle rumor, is not a rumor. Many of the TTers around here do
cut the tip of their saddles off. Doesn't look comfortable to me,
but they go faster than I do; so maybe there's something to
the removal.

The rule is 1.3.013 in the USCF rule book. Not exciting reading, but it does
explain what a bicycle 'is'.

--cyclingute