Why are seat tube fairings and wheel covers permitted in USAT and UCI races when they seem to be prohibited under the rules?
USAT:
5.11(e) There must be no protective shield, fairing, or other device on any part of the bicycle (including frame, wheels, handlebars, chain wheel, and accessories) which has the effect of reducing resistance.
UCI:
1.3.024 Any device, added or blended into the structure, that is destined to decrease, or which has the effect of decreasing, resistance to air penetration or artificially to accelerate propulsion, such as a protective screen, fuselage form of fairing or the like, shall be prohibited.
I believe there is a specific exception given for wheel covers. As for seat tube fairings, frame gussets, etc, they can be used as a structural part of the frame but not a piece simply added on for aerodynamic effect. I recall some instances in the past where bikes like the GT Vengeance and even one of Peter Reid’s Specialized bikes that had a seat post sleeve that fit over the round seatpost to effectively extend the bladed seat tube up to the seat were sometimes allowed, other times barred as being a fairing. Dan’s QR Redstone, even though it had aero sections bonded to the round tubes, used undersized tubes so the additional sections could be defined as structural support rather than fairings.
Still, the spirit of the rule seems to be violated in either case (USAT and UCI). Is there a specific exception to the rules that allows seat tube fairings or has it just come to be allowed over the years?
a ‘fairing’ is defined as something added onto the existing bicycle for no intended purpose other than to improve aerodynamics. If the actual frame material is shaped in a more aerodynamic fashion (bladed tubing for example, or rear wheel cutout), within the required geometric parameters, there is no ‘fairing’. If a material is permanently bonded to the frame to form a structural support where the frame would not be viable without it (QR Redstone), there is no ‘fairing’, even if aerodynamics improves with the add on.
I think the spirit of the rule is more “If your bike came frome the manufacturer with fairings between the wheels or an the seatpost we will let it slide. If you have come up with something in your basement for the purpose or reducing drag we will throw it out.”
i think that the same can be said for aero helmets, and the forth coming MIT water bottle, and my wing shaped bento box
