Why aren’t fenders allowed in the Tour de France?
01-17-18, 04:48 AM
#1
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Why aren’t fenders allowed in the Tour de France?
Jan Heine at compass tires posted an article about fenders:
Http //janheine.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/myth-3-fenders-slow-you-down/
He makes two claims that intrigue me.
A) fenders are illegal in bicycle racing
B) fenders are used by ALL motorcycle racers because it allows them to go faster
Can anyone back this up? Does anyone know why they are against the rules of bicycle racing? If they didn’t help why bother making a rule forbidding them?
Http //janheine.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/myth-3-fenders-slow-you-down/
He makes two claims that intrigue me.
A) fenders are illegal in bicycle racing
B) fenders are used by ALL motorcycle racers because it allows them to go faster
Can anyone back this up? Does anyone know why they are against the rules of bicycle racing? If they didn’t help why bother making a rule forbidding them?
01-17-18, 05:31 AM
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Thread moved from General Cycling forum to Pro Cycling For The Fans forum.
01-17-18, 05:32 AM
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Small fenders that attach to the saddle are allowed. Full fenders are not allowed because the parts that attach them to the bike can be hazardous to other riders in a crash. Wheel changes would take too long anyway, so I doubt anybody would use them even if they were allowed.
01-17-18, 06:49 AM
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I'd say the aero effects at 180 mph might be more significant than those at 28 mph. Also .... big road-racing motorcycles generate hundreds of horsepower, while most humans .... not so much. For a human-powered vehicle carrying any extra weight can be an issue. In fact, while I don't have a graph handy, I'd imagine that for much of any climbing stage the benefit gained versus impediment might not favor fenders at all.
On a flat stage, 90 percent of the riders are in the peloton, and I doubt fenders would add significantly to the aero effect a mass of 150 or so riders creates.
I'd imagine that if manufacturers thought fenders would be a big edge, they'd find ways to make them work and lobby for them ..... or, if they thought they could make a lot of money selling fender-equipped bikes to consumers who wanted to look like pros ......
The real reason we don't see fenders on UCI road-racing bike sis that they would interfere with the disc brake mechanisms.
On a flat stage, 90 percent of the riders are in the peloton, and I doubt fenders would add significantly to the aero effect a mass of 150 or so riders creates.
I'd imagine that if manufacturers thought fenders would be a big edge, they'd find ways to make them work and lobby for them ..... or, if they thought they could make a lot of money selling fender-equipped bikes to consumers who wanted to look like pros ......
The real reason we don't see fenders on UCI road-racing bike sis that they would interfere with the disc brake mechanisms.
01-17-18, 07:26 AM
#7
Pokemon Master
Racing motorcycles have fenders due to rulebooks. They would love to have (and have had in the past) full coverage fenders (or fairings) that completely shroud both tires, but they're against the rules now.
https://www.cbxclub.com/forum/gallery...?image_id=2638
https://www.ozebook.com/mcnews/mgV8/v8-lomas.jpg
https://www.cbxclub.com/forum/gallery...?image_id=2638
https://www.ozebook.com/mcnews/mgV8/v8-lomas.jpg
Last edited by Darth_Firebolt; 01-17-18 at 07:35 AM.
01-17-18, 07:57 AM
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Originally Posted by https://janheine.wordpress.com/2018/01/16/myth-3-fenders-slow-you-down/
Bicycle racing specifically prohibits fairings, otherwise we might see similar fenders in the Tour de France…
I do see where aerodynamic fairings are not allowed, but if you can pass a credit card between the fairing (fender) and the tire, it is allowed. See ARTICLE 1.3.024 in the above document.
As to why? Same reason that they regulate things like seat inclination. If you've even been around racing, you'll realize anything not expressly forbidden will be capitalized upon in some manner.
01-18-18, 04:00 AM
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01-18-18, 04:22 AM
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Small fenders that attach to the saddle are allowed. Full fenders are not allowed because the parts that attach them to the bike can be hazardous to other riders in a crash. Wheel changes would take too long anyway, so I doubt anybody would use them even if they were allowed.
01-18-18, 04:37 AM
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Pro racing has many rules, and those rules exist in part to keep racing bikes from changing rapidly. They have rules on position, what kind of shape the frame can have, whether the wheels are the same size, what position you can ride in, etc.
01-19-18, 09:21 PM
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Rules...but also rider psychology. We have an ex EU pro from Yore around here...he sees fenders as some kind of blasphemy, yet does not have any fun in the wet.
The UCI road peloton are a massive band of conservatives who liked it better the old way
The UCI road peloton are a massive band of conservatives who liked it better the old way
01-19-18, 10:19 PM
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I don't know if you were joking or not, so I'll play it straight. Those little orange things out the back of the saddle are antennae (and probably other stuff) to transmit heart rates, speed, power, and all sorts of good stuff back to race control for dissemination to such worthies as the press.
https://sencillobikes.com/en/product...-edition-2016/
No antennae included.
01-28-18, 04:28 PM
#15
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Nobody cares what you do on your bike, training put mudguards on if you want.
if you can do mid race wheel swaps, on your bike with mudguards and its not a UCI race , fine..
Young Hardmen in training in Belgium don't use mudguards , so they are not confused with the bike tourists.
if you can do mid race wheel swaps, on your bike with mudguards and its not a UCI race , fine..
Young Hardmen in training in Belgium don't use mudguards , so they are not confused with the bike tourists.
02-24-18, 05:18 PM
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1) Crashing in the rain, then trying to swap wheels and fix bent or broken fenders mid-race sounds like a fiasco.
2) Fenders won't help much anyway,with all the spray from a pack of riders.
2) Fenders won't help much anyway,with all the spray from a pack of riders.
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