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CyclistGravel bike gearing: Everything you need to knowThe best gearing for yourgravel bike gives you low enough ratios to climb seriously steep off-road terrain, enough gears that you dont have huge jumps in the effort required and enough top-end that you dont feel constantly spun out on the road.All the major groupset brands now make dedicated gravel drivetrains to meet these needs, whether youre doing general gravel riding, mixing up gravel and road or going bikepacking.Well look at the best gearing options for gravel bikes, how to compare gearing and the pros and cons of single (1) and double chainring (2) groupsets.Finally, well run through whats available from Shimano, SRAM and Campagnolo, as well as some options to increase your range of gears. Related Posts Complete guide to SRAM road and gravel groupsets The best gravel bikes 2024: Cyclists top-rated gravel and adventure bikes reviewed What is a gravel bike? Everything you need to know Road and gravel bike rim width: Everything you need to know Complete guide to Campagnolo road and gravel bike groupsets Shimano groupsets for road and gravel cycling compared Which gear ratios are best for climbing on a road bike? Do I need gravel-specific gearing?Matthew Loveridge / CyclistWhen gravel bikes first became a thing, there werent a lot of gearing options tailored for gravel, so the first generation of gravel bikes usually had a compact road crankset (50/34 was most common) paired with a wide-ish range cassette that usually maxed out at 30 or 32 teeth.This gave adequate gear range for most unloaded gravel adventures, but wasnt optimal for riding on difficult terrain and loose or muddy surfaces.CanyonThe growth ofbikepacking, which adds extra weight to your gravel bike, also called for a lower gear range.Gravels rising popularity meant that groupset makers saw the potential to produce gravel-specific groupsets that offered lower gear ratios for better off-road capability.These included clutched rear derailleurs to ensure better chain retention, smaller chainrings and often wider range cassettes.The best gravel bikes now offer wide gear range with the low gears you need to tackle the steepest off-road terrain, and enough high ratios to ride at speed on easier surfaces.Whats the best gearing for gravel?Matthew Loveridge / CyclistGravel riding calls for lower gearing than needed is for a road bike, to handle tricky terrain and loose surfaces with an even cadenceand to avoid having to jump off the bike and push.That either means wider range or sacrificing high ratios in favour of more low-speed grunt.Both are options, depending on the groupset and configuration you choose.Unless you mix a significant amount of tarmac into your gravel rides, youre not likely to be using the higher gear ratios that a road bike groupset provides, so theres an advantage in lower gearing overall to provide smaller jumps between gears at the lower speeds most gravel riding entails.Gravel bike groupsets typically cut out these higher ratios in order to provide a good spread of lower gears.Joseph Branston / CyclistIts also worth bearing in mind that the wider tyres fitted to gravel bikes will travel further per turn than a narrower tyre, as explained below. This means that the effective gearing is slightly higher for a gravel bike than for a road bike with the same groupset ratios.In general, road bike gear ratios dont go much below 1:1 (eg, a 34-tooth chainring with a 34-tooth large sprocket on the cassette), although SRAMs X-Range 12-speed gearing provides a 10-36 cassette option and 12-speed Shimano 105 Di2 has an 11-36 cassette, both of which provide sub-1:1 lowest gear ratios. Both also offer you a reasonably high top gear for fast road riding.Sub-compact cranksets ie, those with smaller chainrings than the conventional 50/34 compact were first offered by brands including FSA and Praxis Works and typically have chainring sizes of 48/32 or 46/30.Shimano launched its GRX gravel groupsets in 2019 that followed this trend, while SRAM has smaller chainring options as part of its 12-speed AXS groupsets.The smaller chainrings mean that theres not as much top end gearing when you hit a fast tarmac section or a downhill gravel stretch, but gravel riders are in general prepared to accept this in exchange for more low range.How do I compare gearing?Matthew Loveridge / CyclistIts useful to be able to compare across groupsets to see how much range a gravel groupset gives compared to a road bike groupset, how many lower ratios youre getting and how much high gear range youre giving up in exchange. But its not obvious how, for example, a 50:28 gear ratio compares with a 46:24.Theres a standard way to compare gear ratios though, by expressing them in gear-inches. For any given combination of chainwheel and cassette sprocket, this is the number of teeth in the chainring divided by the number of teeth in the sprocket and multiplied by the wheel size in inches.This doesnt tell you how far the bike will actually move per turn of the pedals, but does allow a comparison between gear ratios. The equivalent metric measurement is metres of development, which uses the wheel circumference rather than its diameter and so does give you a figure for distance travelled by the bike per turn of the pedals.Even this is approximate though, as the actual distance travelled will be dependent on the tyres height above the rim, and hence its circumference, which will be greater for a wider gravel bike tyre than for a narrower road tyre.Gear-inches are sometimes compared for a nominally 27 inch tyre diameter without taking account of the difference in tyre size.You can work out the gear-inches for your system yourself, but there are also gear-inch tables available online.Bikecalc.com has a gear-inch table that takes account of tyre size, although youre going to have to work out which numbers apply to the sprockets on your bike. Sheldon Brown has a calculator that lets you select from many, but not all, of the common cassette options and tyre sizes.The other useful option for comparing gearing is to use the spread in its range from the highest to the lowest ratios.Gravel bikes typically offer much wider gear ranges than road bikes. Gear range is usually expressed as a percentage difference between the smallest and largest ratios available, so for example a 10-42 cassette with one chainring would give you a 420 percent range ie (42/10)*100.1 vs 2 for gravelShimanoOne of the big differences between road bikes and gravel bikes is that the latter are often equipped with single ring groupsets, whereas theyve not really taken off for road bikes just yet outside of time-trials, as the vast majority of road bikes still use a two chainring crankset, although we reckon thats ripe for a change.A single chainring has advantages when riding off-road. It means that you can dispense with the front derailleur, making for a simpler setup with less to go wrong.Related: How to adjust your front derailleurFront derailleurs are also prone to collect mud or vegetation that will impair shift quality, and having one may encourage debris to collect behind the bottom bracket too.It can also make it more difficult for a bike designer to add the maximum frame clearance for wide tyres.Because the chain doesnt need to move off the chainring and you dont want it to either, to avoid a dropped chain the teeth on single chainrings can be made deeper to encourage chain retention.Wolf ToothTheyre also often shaped so that alternate teeth are wider and narrower, meaning they mesh more precisely with the wide and narrow links of the chain, again improving chain retention and promoting the removal of debris from between the links.You can fit a chain retention device to make even more sure that you dont lose a chain, although the combination of a good 1-specific chainring and a clutched derailleur make this a lot less likely than on a double chainring setup.The big advantage of a double chainring setup is that it offers smaller jumps between ratios, while still providing a similar overall gear range.Youd expect a bike with a double crankset and 24 speeds (ie, 212) to have twice as many gear ratios available as a single ring 12-speed setup but in practice there are ratios on the large ring that are close to those offered by the small ring, so the actual number of discrete gear ratios is often considerably fewer than 24.Nevertheless, most two ring configurations will provide more overall range than a single chainring, although thats not always the case, as well explain below.A front derailleur makes reseating your chain a possibility if it drops off your chainrings, whereas youll need to get your hands dirty to reseat a dropped chain on a single chainring.Shimano vs SRAM vs Campagnolo: Which is best for gravel?All the major groupset manufacturers have gravel groupset options in their portfolios, which well run through.Well also recommend a setup for all-round gravel riding that will give you plenty of lower gearing and, in most cases, a high gear thats the match for a road bike groupset if you expect to mix tarmac with off-road and want to avoid spinning out.Shimano GRX gravel groupsetsShimano GRX is now available in 12-speed, 11-speed and 10-speed variants. All have mechanical shifting options, while the 11-speed groupset is the only one to currently offer Di2 electronic shifting, denoted GRX RX815.Weve got a full detailed breakdown of the 12-speed Shimano GRX groupset, denoted RX820 (Ultegra equivalent) and RX610 (105 equivalent), dependent on spec level. It comes in three flavours: two with a single chainring and one double chainring option. Shimano has named its three GRX 12-speed options Unbeatable, Unstoppable and Undroppable. Unbeatable is designed for fast riders and offers a 1 setup with a 10-45t cassette and either a 42 or 40-tooth chainring. Weve reviewed GRX RX820 Unstoppable, which is designed to provide a wider gear range 1x setup and uses the same 42 and 40-tooth chainrings with a wide-range 10-51t cassette. Both these configurations are based on Shimanos MTB groupsets, using a Micro Spline freehub to fit the 10-tooth smallest cassette sprocket, along with MTB-like cassette spacing and an MTB chain. Undroppable, meanwhile, is a more conventionally road-like 2x system that uses a 48-31t crankset and a choice of 11-34t or 11-36t cassettes, which fit on a road-style HG11 11-speed freehub.Drop down to 11-speed mechanical GRX and there are two spec levels: RX810 and RX600. 10-speed GRX groupsets are denoted RX400 (Tiagra equivalent).It gets even more diverse as you can select between 1 and 2 groupsets and below that there are multiple chainring sizes. Double chainring combos are 48/31 for RX810 and 46/30 for RX600. 10-speed RX400 is only available with a 46/30 double chainset.Go single ring and RX810 offers 40t or 42t chainrings, while RX600 is 40t only. RX400 does not offer a single chainring option.11-speed GRX works with a range of different Shimano cassettes up to 11-34 for two chainring groupsets and 11-42 for single ring, although these are not designated GRX but come from Shimanos road and mountain bike ranges respectively. 10-speed GRX400 can handle an 11-36 cassette.Shimano has increased the overall gear range available with its 12-speed options, now rivalling SRAM. Unstoppable 1x gearing gives you the largest range at 510%. With Unbeatable 1x, the gear range is 450%, while the 2x Undroppable configuration offers 507% range.Shimano 111 speed GRX groupsets give you a maximum range of 418%, while 211-speed gives 474% range. 10-speed GRX has a potential 502% range.For all-round gravel riding, wed suggest Shimanos latest 12-speed two chainring setup with a 48/31 crankset and an 11-34 cassette. The same rations are also available in 11-speed GRX RX810.If you want to go single ring, a 42t chainset with an 11-45t cassette (GRX 820 Unbeatable configuration) gives a low ratio below 1:1 and a reasonably high top end gear for faster progress on roads and smoother gravel.SRAM gravel groupsetsMatt BuckleyRather than a separate gravel groupset range, SRAM offers gravel configurations for its AXS road bike electronic groupsets. It sub-brands its gravel groupsets as XPLR and offers a range of crankset and cassette options for gravel riders in its Red, Force and Rival and Apex AXS 12-speed ranges. They can be either single chainring or double chainring, with a range of chainring sizes for both.SRAM offers a Wide double chainring option with smaller 43/30 chainrings for gravel. The chainrings are positioned 2.5mm further from the bottom bracket centre, which adds clearance around the more widely spaced chainstays found on many gravel bikes. Maximum range for Wide groupsets is 516 percent.A more recent addition to its range, the SRAM Apex AXS 12-speed groupset is a single chainring only electronic groupset aimed particularly at gravel riders. The SRAM Apex XPLR AXS groupset has a range of chainring size options, with Wide spacing, from 38t to 46t, paired with 10-36, 10-44 and 11-44 cassettes. Alongside Apex XPLR AXS, SRAM has the Apex Eagle AXS 12-speed electronic groupset. This uses a 10-50, 11-50 or 10-52 cassette, giving very low gearing options with wide range, although the components including the chain are not cross-compatible with Apex XPLR AXS.There are also 12-speed mechanical shifting equivalents of both the Apex XPLR and Apex Eagle groupsets.You can also buy SRAM 11-speed single ring groupsets configured for gravel riding at Force, Rival and Apex levels, which can accept a 10-42 or 11-42 cassette.Our recommended configuration for the all-round gravel rider would be a 46/33 crankset with a 10-36 cassette if going for a two chainring configuration, which gives a top gear thats as fast as a road-going bike but plenty of low gearing. If you want a single chainring, 40t with a 10-44 sacrifices a little top end speed but still goes as low. Campagnolo Ekar gravel groupsetsCampagnolo Ekar is a 13-speed single chainring mechanical groupset. It offers three cassette options, including two that start with a 9-tooth sprocket: 9-36 and 9-42, as well as a 10-44. It pairs that with 38, 40, 42 or 44-tooth chainrings for a wide 467 percent maximum gear range with relatively small jumps between ratios.Ekar is lighter than both Shimano GRX and SRAM eTap AXS 1 options.For all-round gravel riding, wed recommend a 40-tooth chainring, paired with the 9-42 cassette for a range that goes down below 1:1 and a top ratio thats almost as high as the 50/11 of a compact road groupset.But Campagnolo now has another option available with the launch of Ekar GT. This has the same three cassettes as Ekar available, although in a cheaper construction, but also adds a 10-48t cassette, which increases significantly the gear range. You can also choose a new 36 tooth chainring, which in combination with the wide range cassette will lower your gearing options significantly over the original Ekar groupset.I need lower gears for gravel what are my options?If you want to preserve your high gear ratios, youll need a wider range cassette to add lower range, which means a larger spread of gears and larger jumps between gear ratios as you move across the cassette.The easiest ready-made options for extra-low gravel gearing are provided by 12-speed SRAM AXS, 12-speed Shimano GRX Unstoppable and 13-speed Campagnolo Ekar GT.SRAMs road groupsets use the same wireless protocol as its mountain bike groupsets to communicate between the shifter and the derailleur. This opens up the option to mix drop bar controls with an MTB rear derailleur in a so-called mullet build.The SRAM Eagle eTap AXS rear derailleur is designed to work with an MTB cassette with up to a 10-52 range, giving you a very wide gear spread of 520 percent and ratios well below 1:1. The latest 12-speed Shimano GRX offers a similar gear range in-series. Shimano doesnt exactly encourage mixing MTB components with gravel and road kit, although some combinations are possible, so there are plenty of compatibility pitfalls. For example, you cant mix GRX and MTB derailleurs in a Di2 drivetrain it has to be one or the other. If you want to get into the details, wed recommend a very close reading of the brands compatibility charts.Wolf ToothIf youve got a mechanical Shimano setup, you can buy a cable pull converter such as the Wolf Tooth Tanpan that let you use road shifters to operate a mechanical mountain bike rear derailleur, which would normally be incompatible, opening up mechanical mullet build options.The alternative to a wider spread is to lower your gear ratios overall by fitting smaller chainrings. SRAM 12-speed single rings go down to 36 teeth and Campagnolo Ekar down to 38 teeth.GarbarukMove away from the big three groupset brands and you have other options.Garbaruk, for example, sells derailleur cages to fit Shimano and SRAM that permit the use of larger cassettes (eg, 11-50t) while the Wolf Tooth Road Linkhangersimply moves your rear derailleur further away from the hub to create extra clearance for mountain bike sprockets.Both brands sell a range of chainring sizes compatible with Shimano GRX and SRAM eTap AXS cranks too. Meanwhile e*thirteen has options to increase gear range including a premium lightweight 9-45 12-speed cassette.Make sure you do your homework if youre exploring the aftermarket as compatibility isnt always straightforward. Theres a wealth of content on YouTube and bike forums exploring all manner of weird and wonderful combinations.If you want a wide ratio option from a major brand, wed recommend the Apex Eagle AXS groupset (or the mechanical shifting Apex Eagle equivalent) with an 11-52 cassette and a 42t chainring. These would give a wide range configuration for bikepacking or steep off-road riding. The 11-52 cassette has the benefit of fitting on a standard Shimano 11-speed freehub (with a 1.85mm spacer) rather than needing a SRAM XDR freehub. The Ekar GT 36 x 10-48t combination also offers a very low gear.The other option is Shimano GRX RX820 Unstoppable, but then youll need a rear wheel with a Micro Spline freehub.Shopping for your next ride? Dont miss our guide to the best gravel bikes. Related Posts Complete guide to SRAM road and gravel groupsets The best gravel bikes 2024: Cyclists top-rated gravel and adventure bikes reviewed What is a gravel bike? Everything you need to know Road and gravel bike rim width: Everything you need to know Complete guide to Campagnolo road and gravel bike groupsets Shimano groupsets for road and gravel cycling compared Which gear ratios are best for climbing on a road bike? The post Gravel bike gearing: Everything you need to know appeared first on Cyclist.

Tom Pidcock has in the past been World and Olympic Champion on the mountain bike and although we do not know yet his full ambitions for the summer, he returns to the discipline where he has been very successful this upcoming weekend in search of wins.However even though the Briton is focusing on th...

Known for its stunning scenery, uncooperative Scottish weather, and technical terrain, the Highland Trail 550 (HT550) is one of the bikepacking classics. The 2024 grand depart kicks off Saturday morning, and more than 60 riders will take on the rugged 550-mile route. Find our gallery of nearly 30 race rigs here, featuring detailed bag and gear highlights for eachThe post Rigs of the 2024 Highland Trail 550 (HT550) appeared first on BIKEPACKING.com.

The 'landmark' partnership will see the bank sponsor the Tours of Britain and be present on GB's cycling kit

For the second day in a row, Tadej Pogacar's activity on Strava was flagged, to which he joked 'Haters gonna flag'. The Slovenian however couldn't care less, as he stormed up the final ascent of the Passo del Brocon to comfortably extend his lead at the Giro d'Italia even further.Today the plan wa...

In the comments on yesterdays post, a reader mentioned this shocking story:And by shocking I mean I was shocked it didnt happen at the Gran Fondo New York:Clearly, evading doping controls at amateur races is becoming a cycling discipline unto itself.As for this latest story, heres what happened:I of course wanted to know more about Giovambattista Iera, cyclist and former actor. If you think about it, cheating to win amateur bike races is a natural progression after not making it as an actor, since both arenas allow you to build a fake persona around yourself, though if you suck at acting you suck at acting, whereas if you suck at cycling you can cheat and if youre lucky maybe youll get away with it for awhile. Really, he fits the FBIs Rogue Douche Profile almost to a T, and the only thing missing is a stint as a restauranteuoh, wait, sorry, he did that too:And yes, I checked photos from news stories to make sure thats him:Wouldnt want to smear an innocent restauranteur.Ultimately, I think his only mistake (besides running down the race director, you really shouldnt do that) was not styling himself as a gravel privateer and influencer on Instagram, because thats the real growth area for ambitious bike enthusiasts with borderline personality disorder these days. Just ask my new riding buddy and life coach Alt Road Overshort:And his friend who must have laundered his clothing in a detergent thats really wreaking havoc with his eczema:And yes, as the kinds of people who wear MAAP clothing know, gravel is totally over. Now its all about sand, which is just gravel, only much smaller:Either that or I thought I was on the MAAP site but was actually on a page for the new Dune movie:Jesus. Get some sun. Crack a smile. Eat some freaking Chipotle. LIVE, GODDAMN IT, LIVE!I do really like that gravel dais though:The new Alt Gravel Dais is only $2,500 from MAAP and it allows you to wear your Alt cycling wardrobe at all times, even when youre off the bike, because standing on a patch of gravel will still keep your outfit in context and let everyone know youre a fashion victim gravelista and just not someone from a dystopian near future who slipped through a wormhole in time. You can stand on the Alt Gravel Dais while youre waiting for the subway, hanging out at the bar with friends, or suffering through a lecture from your parents before they lend you $15,000 for that six-month bikepacking trip. (Its an investment, itll create content, youll monetize it!) Or you can use it on the bike too for when theres no gravel aroundjust stop, throw it down, ride over it, and repeat. The Alt Gravel Dais from MAAP, it lets you take your lifestyle with you.As for the forgotten ghost world of non-gravel bikes, as of yesterday Ive officially taken the rehabilitated Noner for its first ride:But before going any further, Id like to address the stem. Sure, a commenter yesterday said I could have chosen a classier one, but this one has different settings! It goes from 3 (Slammed) all the way to 0 (Woosie):Anyway, in setting out, I donned a jersey to honor the bikes Canadian heritage:Between an end-of-the-weekend gastrointestinal freakout and my sundry responsibilities, I hadnt been on the bike since Saturday, and I found that while I was gone summer had arrived:It meant business too, because not only was it hot, but the air was thick with bugs and this cottony crap:I dont know what tree or plant this stuff comes from, but it was absolutely everywhere:All of this conspired to imbue the day with a feeling of lethargy, and even the bunnies couldnt be bothered to hop away when you got close to them:Both the weather and the bike had come a long way since our first ride:The Noner felt great:Though after a few miles I stopped to check it over:Overall, the 8-speed Chorus shifters are working well, and I hope they continue to do so for awhile because I like the way they feel and its fun to have Campagnolo Ergo again:Theres a softness here and there that leads me to wonder how much more life the internals have in them, but its hard to tell how much of that is just me not being used to them and paying too much attention to stuff, and for all my troubles with the cassette the shifting is smooth* and accurate:*[If you can call Campy smooth; its more a ker-klunk with Campy, but you know what I mean.]The hubs still need service and the bottom bracket should be replaced, but otherwise the parts seem to be in good shape:The headset is smooth:So are the brakes:And both the Athena 9 speed (if Im reading that correctly) rear derailleurand Centaur 10 speed derailleur are doing what they need to do:Though I do only think of one thing when I hear Centaur:As for the frame, theres this whole situation, which seems like it could have happened in transit since thats where the wheel axle likes to rub against the frame when you pack a bike in a box:Then theres the dinged top tube:And an overall smattering of rust:But its considerably healthier than it was when it showed up at the Tan Tenovo Home For Wayward Bikes:Well see how it holds up.

CyclistWhat would bikes look like if there were no UCI rules?The bicycle is a vehicle with two wheels of equal diameter. The front is steerable, the rear is driven through a system comprising pedals and a chain. So sayeth Article 1, Sub-section 3.007 of the Union Cycliste Internationales technical regulations.At this point, most of us are on the same page. Its the other 55 pages of its bicycle design bible that sometimes cause disagreement.The problems started towards the end of the last millennium. Until then bikes had been built from metal and there wasnt much bike builders could do to create radical new designs.But in the 1990s, advances in composite materials and aerodynamics led to a golden age of weird and wonderful bicycles that handed their riders a winning advantage remember that Pinarello Espada bike ridden to time-trial glory by Miguel Indurin, or that Lotus bike propelling Chris Boardman to Olympic gold?In 2000 the UCI stamped down on this flowering by decreeing that henceforth a bike should look like a bike that its frame should be of a traditional pattern.Its reasoning was that bike races should be won by human endeavour, not by hi-tech equipment, and so restrictions were placed on design aspects such as minimum weight, aspect ratio and rider position.At a stroke, all wilder unibody designs, along with unconventional rider positions and aerodynamic fairings, were binned.At the time, the UCI said, If we forget that technology is subordinate to the project itself, we cross the line beyond which it takes hold of the system and imposes its own logic.The bicycle is losing its user-friendliness and distancing itself from a reality which can be grasped and understood. The performance achieved now risks depending more on the form of the man-machine ensemble than the physical qualities of the rider.From a sporting point of view, this seems fair enough. But bikes arent just for racing. Some of us are happy to compete against ourselves or just to see how quickly we can go.Yet with the UCI rules rendering bikes used in competition recognisable to any cyclist stumbling in from the 1880s, it begs the question: where might we be if they were ripped up? Related Posts Specialized S-Works Aethos review What is the UCI weight limit? UCI tackles danger of head injuries with new concussion protocol for racing In praise of Chris Boardman Turning off the trickleOne man who knows all about radical design is British bike builder Mike Burrows. He created Boardmans Lotus and was the brains behind Giants TCR compact frame, as seen on virtually every road bike now, in the period after the rules were laid down.There were plans to ban the compact bicycle, he once told Cyclist. The only reason it wasnt banned was because the head of Giant Europe, Jan Derksen, was a famous Dutch speed skater and could ring up Hein Verbruggen at the UCI.He had a quick word and said, Hein, this compact geometry thing, it makes bikes a little lighter and a little cheaper. And wouldnt that be a good thing? That was the only reason.Burrows remained emphatic that the UCIs prime aim should be to help sell bikes and encourage development, and he believed the rules are stifling that. Even more, he suggested the rules were harming pro racing by making sponsorship less attractive to bike companies.In road racing you need variety to justify the claim that your bike is better, he said. Many of the early bike races were put on to promote bike makers. But as the bicycles ceased to evolve, the bicycle makers ceased to be the main sponsors.Working at Giant I saw the power of trickle-down. What wins the Tour will be noticed on the streets. And if monocoque bikes were winning the Tour, people would have been doing their shopping on them soon enough.So did Burrows believe that, without the rules, pro bikes would be significantly different? Actually, I think broadly speaking what we have now with the double diamond frame is correct, although they should have better profiles.He suggested a lower top tube would leave more space to improve aerodynamics around the seatpost, and an enclosed chaincase could be worth an extra mile an hour on top speed, because aerodynamically the drivetrain is a disaster area.In his later years, Burrows concentrated mainly on recumbent and utility bikes, where radical design is unaffected by the rules of any governing body, but he believed that the UCI still has a duty to consider the everyday rider as well as the pro racer.The bicycle is the only piece of sporting equipment thats more useful away from the arena than in it, he says. It can change the world, so it deserves to be promoted as the future and not the past.Seeking approvalNot that significant innovation is impossible. Having come to a similar conclusion about drivetrain drag as Burrows, California-based Felt Bicycles had a radical solution.When designing the US national teams track bikes for the 2016 Rio Olympics, it swapped the drivetrain to the left-hand side. This improved the bikes aerodynamics and centre of balance, and there was nothing in the rules to stop them.Of course, not every bike can manage such a radical trick. The rules have just become an integrated part of how we construct a frame, says Alexander Soria, Felts former director of product development, who now works at Specialized. At this point theyre neither good nor bad, just part of the process.A UCI logo on a bike now means it has been approved for racing. Introduced in 2011, this accreditation process has increased interaction between manufacturers and cyclings governing body.Restricting racers from competing on prototypes, it means brands no longer find designs banned after theyve sunk time and money into their production.Since the rules and regulations became more stringent weve had to interact with the UCI much more. We have to pay, and we have to send them our designs and samples so they can check they are correct, says Soria.This rule-tightening has had some positive effects for athletes. Take the stipulation that equipment shall be of a type thats sold for use by anyone.Over the past few years weve seen bending of the rules around athletes riding commercially available bicycles, says Soria.Making the Felt TA FRD Olympic track bike commercially available was a huge undertaking. We could have just stuck a button on the website saying click here to buy, then taken six months to build you one and charged $50,000.Although hes too polite to say, this could well be termed the Team GB method. In the end, Felts bikes went on sale for $25,999 expensive, but with nothing stopping another team buying up a fleet, not as expensive as running your own Olympic-level R&D and production.Flagging breaches of the commercial availability rule is one area Soria says bike makers now have more influence with the UCI. Yet, with regards to the rules themselves, the relationship remains more a Moses and the tablets type arrangement.Employed as Felts engineering manager, Jeremiah Smith is less enthusiastic about any form of regulation: Im not such a fan, because they restrict what I can do, he says.I can appreciate the intent, but the statement about seeking to preserve the traditional look of a bike? Id question its logic.Working across the brands non-regulated triathlon bikes and its UCI-certified models, Jamie Seymour also often finds himself butting up against the rules regarding aero profiles.You have maximum depths for the head and down tube, but these dont necessarily coincide with the best airfoil shape for those areas, he says.Yet just because the crazy designs of the 1990s have disappeared doesnt mean that advances arent happening.That same level of innovation is still happening today, says Soria. With material technology, the period between 2005 to 2015 saw an increase in performance thats easily worth the same consideration as the 90s.Strict machinesMatthew Loveridge / CyclistWhile bemoaning the restrictions, Smith does admit that the current regime may actually have led to the development of better bicycles.Given cyclings obsession with weight, the 6.8kg minimum has steered our bikes in a healthier direction than they might otherwise have taken, allowing engineers to focus on things with greater real-world benefit such as aerodynamics and comfort. The machines we ride are all a product of this regulation.If the industry hadnt embraced disc brakes I think lowering the weight limit would have been reasonable, but its about right for where we are now, Smith says.Soria adds, When designing a frame, theres a sweet spot that balances frame weight against the performance metrics we want. Its pretty easy to make a light frame. Its harder to make one thats also stiff and handles the way you want it to.At the moment, the bikes most companies want to make tend to weigh in at around the UCIs limit, and if they dip under, a couple of added accessories easily solves that. And, as with weight, so the pursuit of the most aerodynamic bike is not necessarily a sensible course.Even within the rules we could make a more aero bike, says Soria. But would there be compromises in other areas? Maybe the compliance, weight or stiffness wouldnt end up where youd want it to be.Smith points out that designing inside the box (literally, see below) comes with frustrations.Designing our AR aero bike there were shapes that fell outside the permitted boundary boxes, or once Id got them in the boxes, some aesthetic element would fall outside again. Yet hes not sure scrapping the rules would have resulted in the bike being any faster, perhaps only better looking.A world without limitsTurns out, when you ask designers what theyd do if freed from all rules, the answer isnt build some fantastical freak-bike.In reality they might tweak tube shapes, drop the seatstays, maybe adjust rider position. Right now a lot of innovation comes down to materials, with software also emerging as a potential battleground.Its hard then to see the rules as hugely stifling design. Bikes improve year on year to the extent your next one might make you a few seconds faster than the previous model.However, in an imaginary 25-mile race where Filippo Ganna rides his Pinarello and I turn up on a fully faired recumbent, Id be into my second slice of cake before he crossed the finish line. Clearly, some regulation is needed to keep things fair.The truth is, if you want to see a fundamental re-evaluation of the bicycle, sport isnt really the place to look for it. While brands may grumble about the rules, few are looking to radically redesign the road bike, and no one is agitating for a recumbent Tour de France.Much as the anarchist in us hates to admit it, in sport there have to be rules. Given the enjoyment provided by the bikes these rules have shaped, they seem to work OK.Rules is rulesJust a few of the UCI decrees regulating race bike designThe weight of the bicycle cannot be less than 6.8kgA bicycle shall not measure more than 185cm (length) by 50cm (width)Wheels of the bicycle may vary in diameter between 70cm maximum and 55cm minimum, including the tyre Wheels shall have at least 12 spokes; spokes can be round, flattened or oval, as far as no dimension of their sections exceeds 10mmFor road competitions other than time-trials and for cyclocross, the frame shall be of a traditional pattern, ie built around a main triangleTube dimensions: the maximum height of the elements shall be 8cm and the minimum thickness 2.5cm. The minimum thickness shall be reduced to 1cm for the chainstays and the seatstays. The minimum thickness of the elements of the front fork shall be 1cm; these may be straight or curved.For a full list of rules visit uci.orgInside the boxThe rules governing frame shape and tube dimensionsTriangular shapeThe frame and forks must be able to fit entirely within the template formed by seven rectangular boxes of 8cm width, as shown by the diagram right.Sloping top tubeThe top tube may slope provided that this element fits within a horizontal template defined by a maximum height of 16cm and a minimum thickness of 2.5cm.Illustration:Rob MiltonThis article was originally published in 2020. Related Posts Specialized S-Works Aethos review What is the UCI weight limit? UCI tackles danger of head injuries with new concussion protocol for racing In praise of Chris Boardman The post What would bikes look like if there were no UCI rules? appeared first on Cyclist.

Stage 17 of the 2024 Giro d'Italia is one that will long be remembered in the Steinhauser household as EF Education-EasyPost's Georg Steinhauser powered to a first professional victory on his Grand Tour debut.Coming from a strong cycling family, Steinhauser has many familial ties to the sport throu...

Sunny Chico, California is the home of Paul Component Engineering. Paul Components has been making high-end, USA-made bike parts in Chico since 1989. Their products are full of precision machining, being made with aerospace-like tolerances. Their parts are not only beautifully engineered to work very well, but they are beautiful to look at as well and carry a high bling factor their Dropper Trigger is no exception. (Photos/Ron Frazelle)The Haro Saguaro 1 I am reviewing came specd with a TranzX Dropper. I did not like the stock lever it came with. It felt hard to push and strained when actuating the post. So, I reached out to Paul Components to review their version of a dropper lever, the Dropper Trigger. And, yeah, I got one in gold, cause well, its gold.Outta The BoxThe blingy beauty of the gold anodized Dropper Trigger caught my eye instantly upon opening the box. The machining is perfect with meticulous attention to detail. This is something Ive come to expect from Paul Components and sets the brand apart from others. The Dropper Trigger weight is feathery at 40g.Build Quality You can see the ergonomic curvature of the paddle here. After putting the Dropper Trigger prototypes through rigorous testing for over a year, the final version ends up with some unique features. The first is dual-stacked sealed cartridge bearings in the pivot. This eliminates any pivot slop, boasts super light trigger action, and provides a long serviceable life. I cant touch on the precision of bike parts that come from Paul Components enough. I mentioned earlier the aerospace-like tolerances that their components have. For example, the Dropper Trigger is machined in Chico, California from 6061 American aluminum to 0.0005 tolerance.The cable can be installed in either directionThere is also a pinch bolt and a cable head recess which allows you to run your dropper cable in either direction. The paddle is curved for ergonomics. The Dropper Trigger has a hinged clamp for easy installation on or removal from the handlebars. Finally, there is a nice barrel adjuster for a quick way to remove slack from the system or fine-tune the cable tension. Operating the Lever and Final ThoughtsThe installation went flawlessly, and the Paul Dropper Trigger operates the TranzX dropper smoothly with a very light actuation, thanks to the stacked sealed cartridge bearings. I dont think this needs to be a long-term review, as I feel that you either like a dropper lever or you dont. The Paul Dropper Trigger has been great on the Haro so far, and the ergonomic paddle shape feels flat and positive when engaging it with your thumb.The build quality, attention to detail, and unique features ensure that this component will be as long-lived and serviceable as everything that comes from Paul Components.The Paul Dropper Trigger comes in two clamp sizes, 22.2 (MTB) and 31.8 (drop bars). It comes in ten different anodized colors and retails for $97 ($137 for polished). PaulComp.com The post Paul Components Boutique Dropper Trigger is Beauty and Function Realized appeared first on Bikerumor.