Originally Posted by
rydabent
If restrictive rules were applied to cars trains and airplanes, we would be driving Model Ts, riding trains with steam engines, and flying bi-wing planes.
But the UCI who was bought off by DF MFGs needs only to understand that if riders had a choice, it would be equal if all riders could chose the type of bike for the terrain.
Don't know of any train-racing organizations, but there are certainly formal racing organizations for cars and airplanes that do impose strict regulations on the competitors (and yes, there is a category for racing biplanes). I've never heard complaints that the existence of these highly regulated competitive events has somehow stunted the development of better designs of the more mundane cars we drive nor of the aircraft used in either general aviation or by the airline industry.
It frankly strikes me as a bit far-fetched that UCI rules which only apply to the tiny fraction of bike riders who engage in the highest levels of racing has somehow prevented new designs of the vast majority of bikes that are sold from the big-box outlets - or even of the smaller volume of sales from bike shops which still would only rarely have customers who are restricted by UCI rules.