Under the direction of the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI), seven leading saddle manufacturers have teamed up with the UCI to share information regarding scientific information relative to the future development of saddles, for both performance, as well as medical issues.
The Chairman of the committee is Dave Schindler, Technical Director of ISM Saddles, while the Vice-Chairman is Piet van der Velde from Selle Italia.
“The WFSGI is therefore well armed to start its work in collaboration with the UCI in order to renew the regulations for bicycle saddles,” said the WFSGI.
According to the new committee, the UCI appears to be more in favor of allowing technological innovation, than it does implementing new restrictions. And, in addition to its Equipment Commission, the UCI also plans to include representatives from pro teams as well.
The UCI currently prohibits riders from tilting their saddles back more than 3° from horizontal.
The other key regulation relating to saddles states: “The peak of the saddle shall be a minimum of 5 cm to the rear of a vertical plane passing through the bottom bracket spindle… The peak of the saddle can be moved forward until the vertical line passing through the bottom bracket spindle where that is necessary for morphological reasons.”
Graeme Obree famously sawed the nose off one saddle in an attempt to comply with UCI regulations back in the 1990s.
At the start of 2011, UCI introduced new protocols regarding the approval of frames and forks. Shortly thereafter, they governing body expressed its desire to extend those protocols to include wheels, handlebars, saddles and clothing.
Although there are currently no requirements for saddles, the UCI’s technical regulations prohibis them from being less then 24cm, or longer than 30cm, in length.
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