Yesterday, it was revealed that UCI Continental workforce Saint Piran broke UCI guidelines by making use of frameset approval stickers to bikes that had not been formally accepted.
The stickers, that are generally discovered on the seat tube simply beneath the highest tube, signify that the frameset in query meets sure technical standards vital for it to be permitted for UCI-sanctioned competitions.
However what does that truly imply? Is a non-compliant bike unsafe, and who really does the testing?
The reality is, that between UCI certification, ISO requirements, and buying and selling requirements there’s a entire world of various frameworks to make sure that your bike is secure, so we thought we might break them all the way down to shed some mild on frameset regulation.
What’s a UCI accepted frameset?
Briefly, a UCI-approved frameset is one which meets the UCI’s technical specs, and has been formally accepted.
Sounds easy, however the approval course of is slightly complicated and might take as much as three months from the day of utility to the official approval being granted.
It is also value noting that the primary goal of the UCI’s approval scheme is to make sure that nobody is gaining an unfair benefit in a UCI-sanctioned occasion, in addition to holding all people secure. Therefore, you will not discover a UCI Approval sticker beneath the highest tube of your hybrid e-bike!
The complete approval process solely applies to ‘one-piece’ body fashions that require a mould throughout their manufacturing course of – in different phrases, any carbon fiber body. For these framesets, the UCI requires 2D and 3D drawings, in addition to prototype frames for checks to be carried out on body tube dimensions, to make sure that they do not break Artwork 1.3.020 of the gear ruling regarding frameset profiles. Framesets should additionally meet the related Worldwide Organisation for Standardisation (ISO) necessities.
(Picture credit score: UCI)
Alloy and metal frames may be accepted by a simplified approval process. For this, producers merely have to supply the UCI with technical drawings for every dimension, nonetheless, the frames should additionally meet all related ISO, testing which we’ll come on to later.
The method prices 5,000 CHF + VAT per body dimension for carbon frames, or 3,500 CHF + VAT for alloy, titanium, and metal frames, and is restricted to eight body sizes.
(Picture credit score: UCI)
As soon as a frameset has obtained its official approval from the UCI, a model can start manufacturing, and apply official UCI stickers to its frames. The body stickers had been launched again in 2011 as a means of streamlining the method of recognising whether or not or not a frameset is match to be used in a UCI sanctioned occasion, as Head of Innovation and Biking Esport on the UCI, Michael Rogers explains.
“This little sticker is a time-saver for everybody instantly earlier than a race because the UCI Commissaire can shortly establish accepted framesets. It additionally reduces the chance of bicycles being refused by UCI Commissaires on the final minute.”
“Mainly, a motorcycle with the newest sticker meets UCI necessities relating to technical compliance, security and high quality, and business availability. This process doesn’t prohibit technological evolution, but it surely does guarantee a degree taking part in area for all riders in a race.”
Up shut, it is clear the UCI body stickers on Saint Piran’s bikes weren’t fitted in the course of the manufacturing course of
(Picture credit score: Future)
One other key stipulation is that the body stickers have to be utilized to the frameset on the level of manufacture. This typically implies that the body stickers shall be utilized under clearcoat, thus making them tougher to falsify – a requirement that sources informed Biking Weekly Saint Piran tried to move off by making use of clear nail polish.
What are the ISO requirements, and do all bikes have to fulfill them?
ISO requirements are primarily an inventory of security necessities set out by the Worldwide Organisation for Standardisation, drawn as much as deem a motorcycle secure for client use. The particular checks are ‘ISO 4210 – Security necessities for bicycles‘.
Nevertheless, bicycles offered within the UK do not essentially have to fulfill ISO 4210 requirements. As an alternative, corporations should make sure that a product is secure for its supposed use, a requirement enforced by legislation. It is also value noting that in lots of instances, significantly within the high-end street biking area, corporations commonly go above and past ISO testing on account of its considerably outdated nature. It might pay to exceed them when pushing the boundaries of an atypical materials or construct – ultralightweight frames, for instance.
So, if it isn’t compulsory, why do corporations hassle submitting frames for ISO testing? Properly, if the corporate had been to incur authorized motion, the ISO checks can assist current the case that an organization has carried out its due diligence in making certain the protection of the patron. Nevertheless, corporations comparable to Hunt, Canyon and Specialised, all have well-documented testing outcomes from their very own labs, which is also utilized in a court docket scenario as a result of they go above and past the ISO requirements.
Are UCI accepted framesets safer?
Properly, in brief, not precisely.
Whereas it’s true that for a frameset to be UCI accepted, it should meet the mandatory ISO requirements, this does not essentially imply {that a} non-UCI-approved frameset will A) not meet ISO requirements anyway, or B) not be thought of secure for a client.
As an alternative, the buck stops with the legislation in whichever nation you might be buying a motorcycle. So within the UK, the patron is protected by the Client Rights Act 2015. Within the occasion {that a} bike frameset, or certainly a element, had been to have a problem that causes it to face authorized motion, it is as much as the model to point out that it has carried out its utmost to make sure the protection of that product.
Brompton carries out it is personal testing for instance, showcased right here in its manufacturing facility
(Picture credit score: Brompton)
There’s additionally an argument that some framesets that are not UCI-approved might technically be safer than framesets which can be. The case for this may be a frameset that simply scrapes by ISO 4210 testing and is subsequently UCI-approved, versus a non-UCI-approved frameset that meets much more stringent checks than ISO 4210.
General, we’re demonstrating right here what a headache this subject is for producers, but it surely’s definitely one which we’re glad is taken so severely. The underside line is, in case you are shopping for a motorcycle of any form from a good store, vendor, or on-line outlet, you possibly can relaxation assured you’ve gotten a secure product offered you preserve it effectively maintained.
