Originally Posted by
puppypilgrim
...The common tri-bar is an innovation from Obree's efforts.
My understanding is they had triathlon bars long before Obree came along. Both of Obree's positions were eventually banned in favor of the traditional aerobar.
You can complain about the UCI all you want, but at some point, they have to define what, exactly, a "bike" is. You can argue about whether this saddle position or that saddle position is allowed or not, but in the end, there will always be people pushing right up to the limits. At some point you just draw the line and riders aren't quite as aero as they possibly could be.
The real problem is that it isn't just arbitrary but also has greater detriment to smaller cyclists because they are riding a much more effectively slack time trial position unless they get an exemption.
Apparently pretty much everyone gets an exemption these days, that allows the saddle to be right over the top of the bottom bracket. The 5cm rule really only applies to bigger riders. Most riders can figure out how to sit on their saddles and stay within the other angle/length constraints.
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