Time trial riders will now be able to use their old TT frames in UK road bike events, following the reversal of a decision made a year ago to ban them at what was a tumultuous Cycling Time Trials (CTT) AGM.
The sport's UK governing body had ruled that road bike time triallists could not use frames that had been marketed for time trialling.
However, that motion was reversed at the weekend, in a proposal put forward by CTT's own Regulations Advisory Group (RAG). Riders might wish to use their old time trial frames to create a bike for road bike time trials, it was thought, and outlawing such a practice would only make time trialling less accessible – something CTT has fought hard against over the past few years.
RAG also proposed that the aerodynamics and "perceived aesthetics" between a time trial frame and a modern aero road bike was "negligible".
A proposal to reduce the maximum rim depth in road bike time trials to 65mm did not pass, with the current 90mm maximum remaining in place for both front and back wheels.
The AGM saw the resignation of former chair Andrea Parish following the election of Tim Smith as new chair, while two other CTT directors, Martyn Heritage-Owen and Robin Field also resigned.
Time trial course design is also set to undergo a radical shake-up, with the creation of a two-tier course 'Competition' and 'Racing' system design to open up new possibilities and combat course loss – a major bugbear for modern time trialling often caused by road development that renders courses unraceable.
Under the new system, organisers will have far more leeway when it comes to designing 'Racing' courses, with the finish line allowed to be up to 50% of the total race distance away from the start, instead of between 1.5-2.5 miles on any course up to 50 miles.
CTT's Mark Bradley, who helped design the new regulations as part of the RAG, told Cycling Weekly in a statement: "I’m pleased that we’ve been able to formalise a way to relax the rules around course creation, in addition to the existing ability to request a dispensation. Hopefully it will encourage more innovative course creation around the country, and enable an uptick in the number of possible events."
