Originally Posted by
beng1
The governing bodies for bicycle racing, if they were not hopelessly corrupt, should remove the cost of equipment from being a factor in bicycle racing by making everyone compete on the same low-end bicycles. They should just race on round steel tube framed cycles with the wall thickness dictated in the specs as not being exotic, they should dictate aluminum wheels and a certain number of steel spokes, and they should cap the number of speeds the drivetrain has at twenty. Clincher only tires would be allowed and no exotic materials, just steel and aluminum. This way the races would be won by riders not money, and it is always good for society to show people it can be just fine if it is not centered around wealth and the "new" and instead centered around things that matter much more.
Counterpoint: By allowing experimentation within a limited set of parameters (and the UCI is big on setting parameters), like minimum weight, diamond frame, etc, the UCI encourages bicycle manufacturers to constantly improve bicycles, because that technology trickles down to bikes for average schmoes like me.
If you have enough money - and it doesn't take all that much, in the grand scheme of things - you can own a bike just like the World Tour pros. Or wait a few years and get the same features on a bike for thousands less. Try that with motorsports.