"Blatant disregard" – new UCI handlebar rules ignore the needs of female riders, say experts

"Blatant disregard" – new UCI handlebar rules ignore the needs of female riders, say experts

New rules will impact access to sport for women, according to bike fitter and team manager

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The UCI’s upcoming mandate requiring a minimum 400mm handlebar width in mass-start road and cyclocross events has raised serious concerns among fitters and team managers working with female riders.

The rule – which also introduces a 320mm minimum hood-to-hood measurement – is, according to the UCI, based on safety recommendations from SafeR.

But critics say the regulation fails to reflect the physiological needs of women and smaller riders – and risks undoing recent bike fit progress.

Read more on the UCI’s new rules

“A blatant disregard for almost all female cyclists”

Female cyclist in green top riding the women's specific Liv Langma Advanced Pro 0 road bike
Influential bike fitter, James Thomas, says he recommends most women use bars narrower than 38cm. Sam Voaden / Our Media

Speaking to BikeRadar by email, James Thomas, known professionally as Bikefit James, said the rule could have far-reaching effects for women’s cycling.

“Although I can understand the UCI will have their reasons for doing this, there should be morphological allowances, as there are for saddle setback,” he said.

“If not, I believe this to be a blatant disregard for almost all female cyclists – in my experience over 80 per cent will require a narrower bar than a 38cm.

“The potential long-term ramifications for opening up the sport to women and smaller riders could be huge.”

Thomas noted that recent aerodynamic and ergonomic trends have only recently enabled better setups for smaller riders: “We have only recently come to a point (thanks to the trend towards aero bars) where proper ergonomics can be achieved for smaller people,” he said. “With some riders genuinely feeling more comfortable and achieving greater control with bars as narrow as 32cm.”

Entire bar stock “unusable”

Picture by Alex Whitehead/SWpix.com - 08/06/2025 - Cycling - UCI Women's World Tour - 2025 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women - Stage 4: The Glasgow Stage - Handsling Alba Development Road Team
Handsling Alba Development Road Team team manager Bob Lyons says his whole team use bars narrower than 40cm. SWpix.com (t/a Photography Hub Ltd

Bob Lyons, performance director and team manager at Handsling Alba Development Road Team – a UCI Continental women’s squad – said the rule will directly impact every rider on the team.

“I have some sympathy and agreement – there are some pretty extreme bars and bar setups that are probably unsafe. I don’t disagree with that,” he said.

“But I’m not sure this is the way to address that. If the narrowest part is 40 centimetres, that’s just ludicrous for somebody of a small frame and small shoulder width.”

Lyons said the team currently has no bars that would comply with the new rules.

“The majority of our riders are on 36cm bars, and we have a few on 38cm bars. Nobody is on 40cm bars. 

“But nobody has a ridiculous bike setup – their bikes are set up for comfort.”

“That just gets thrown out the window here”

Picture by Olly Hassell/SWpix.com - 07/06/2025 - Cycling - UCI Women's World Tour - 2025 Lloyds Tour of Britain Women - Stage 3: The Scottish Borders Stage, Kelso - Arianne Holland (Handsling Alba Development Road Team)
The team will have to source all-new cockpits across the board. Olly Hassell/SWpix.com

While the change won’t come into effect until 2026, Lyons said its impact will be felt as early as next season.

“We can’t use any of our existing bar stock. The widest bars we hold are 38s – the majority are 36,” he said. “That requires, for next season, a whole new set of bars for the team.”

The impact will also be felt by bigger teams.

A source close to the consultation said that Cervélo reportedly warned that 14 of the 18 women on its Visma–Lease a Bike team would need to change their handlebars to comply with the new rules. 

Our source described the move as “hugely discriminatory against women and smaller men.”

More than the logistical cost, Lyons stressed the effect on rider safety and performance.

“You already get issues when riders are slightly too wide on bars – it can be quite uncomfortable on one ride alone, just because of the position it puts them in,” he said.

“All this work goes into getting the correct bike fit, getting people comfortable on bikes – and that just gets thrown out the window here.”

“Small males or, fundamentally, females, by their nature have a much smaller frame, a much smaller skeleton – they’re going to have much narrower shoulders,” he added.

“Therefore they should be much narrower at the front end.”

The UCI was contacted for comment but did not respond in time for publication. 

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