Originally Posted by
rpenmanparker
Considering most bikes sold are not raced in sanctioned events, so weight keeps coming down. Comfort keeps going up as does stiffness for marketing points. For a racer to use that kind of bike, just add weight somewhere unimportant. That is what is so stupid about the 6.8 kg rule, it doesn't say where the weight has to be. If it is for safety, how come it can be a true 5 kg bike (Emonda SLR for example) with some ballast tacked on somewhere. Stupid people, stupid rule.
I wasn't debating whether the rule is stupid or not - and you make some good points about how a more thoughtful weight limit should be designed.
I was just saying that since it's so easy to make the 6.8 kg rule (as you mentioned), manufacturers don't have to be obsessed with ever-lightening the components or the entire bike. They can try to innovate in other ways, which may be a good thing.
Yes, very few of us actually are subject to any UCI rule, ever. But the manufacturers certainly use it as some sort of benchmark.