The UCI has backtracked on parts of its controversial handlebar width proposals.

While the UCI confirmed the proposed 400mm width measurement, the minimum distance between the inner edges of the brake hoods has decreased from the proposed 320mm to 280mm, and there’s a new maximum flare figure of 65mm.

This may go some way to winning round critics of the proposed rule, who claimed the original proposals could disadvantage women and smaller riders, although the UCI has also said the updated rule may be modified in the future.

Additional details have also been revealed about how the sport’s governing body intends to distinguish between ‘road’ and ‘time trial’ helmets.

• Read more: UCI announces price caps for 2028 Olympic track bikes and equipment

The UCI U-turns… for now

The proposed handlebar width measurements proposed back in June were widely decried by professional riders and the bike industry alike.

One source told BikeRadar that the new rules were “hugely discriminatory” against women cyclists and smaller riders in general, who would typically currently ride handlebars narrower than 400mm. It would also force some brands to scrap their current road bike bars and develop new designs to conform to the regulations.

The new hood-to-hood measurement of 280mm should ease these objections somewhat, and the UCI said the new measurement follows consultation with “cycling’s stakeholders including representatives of the cycling industry, findings from extensive verifications of current dimensions used for bikes at UCI Women’s WorldTour and UCI WorldTour events”.

The UCI counters that the proposed regulation was aimed at slowing riders down by increasing the drag on riders and bikes, as part of its goal of controlling race speeds, with the objective of improving rider safety. 

There’s already a test of limits on maximum gear ratios slated for this year’s Tour of Guangxi, taking place in October, also aimed at decreasing race speeds.

This has resulted in SRAM filing a complaint against the UCI with the Belgian Competition Authority which has launched anti-trust proceedings against the UCI, as the brand says the trial will “unfairly disadvantage SRAM riders and SRAM”.

• Read more: Why is SRAM taking legal action against the UCI?

There’s a sting in the tail of the relaxed bar width regs though, with the UCI management committee suggesting that the minimum handlebar width numbers could increase going forward.

It says its management committee has instructed the UCI Equipment and New Technologies Commission to “review” the measurements and consult with stakeholders during the 2026 season, “ with a view to potentially increasing it for future seasons”. 

Track riders fare better, with a minimum 350mm width at the drops, 80mm flare and 65mm cross section for their bars.

Clarification of aero helmet regulations

The UCI has also aimed to clarify the new regulation that will distinguish between ‘road’ and ‘time trial’ helmets, as aero road helmets have become steadily more TT helmet-like.

The POC Procen Air helmet worn by the EF Education pro team, for example, encloses the tops of a rider’s ears and there are just three front vents. Victor Campenaerts and his Visma-Lease a Bike teammates have also been wearing the Giro Aerohead MIPS TT helmet, minus its visor, in many mass start road races this season.

It appears both helmets would be banned from January 2026, under the new rules, which stipulate “minimum ventilation requirements, a ban on helmet shells or accessories covering or obstructing the riders’ ears, and a ban on integrated or detachable visors”.

Again, the UCI’s justification is “to contain aerodynamics”, decrease rider speeds and improve safety, as well as to distinguish between helmets used in different disciplines.

The UCI has announced it will cap the prices of track bikes and equipment used at the 2028 Olympic Games in Los Angeles.

Following the 2024 Paris Games, which saw the cost of track bikes and related equipment soar to unprecedented levels, cycling’s governing body says price caps will bolster “the integrity of competitions by preventing excessive cost barriers”.

Though details of exactly how price caps will be implemented – or what level they will be set at – have not been revealed, the UCI says “maximum prices will apply for framesets, forks, wheels, handlebars and their extensions, helmets and skinsuits” from 1 January 2027.

The UCI says this decision has been approved by its management committee, which is headed by UCI president David Lappartient, and is designed to ensure “participants from all nations have fair access to equipment”.

Why does the UCI want to cap the prices of track bikes and kit?

According to the UCI, the establishment of price caps for track bikes and related equipment will complement its existing rules on commercial availability, which are intended to create a more level playing field in terms of access to equipment.

As before, new bikes and related equipment will need to be registered with the UCI and used in events prior to the Olympics in order to ensure compliance with the rules.

In theory, this gives competing nations a chance to see – and potentially purchase – any bike or item of equipment, clothing and so on, prior to the Games.

It seems the spiralling cost of Olympic track bikes and kit may have prompted the UCI to take action against prices that appear to be designed to discourage or even prevent such kit from actually being purchased by rivals.

The V-IZU TCM2 and TC-M1 track bikes used by the Japanese cycling team, for example, were priced at €126,555 and €112,320, respectively, according to the UCI’s ‘Final Equipment List’.

The UK Sports Institute UKSI-BC1 track bike, used by Team GB, was listed at €64,350 for a frameset alone, while other bikes from top nations were priced at similarly astronomical levels.

And that’s just bikes and framesets. The Pinarello MOST custom 3D-printed bar extensions used by the Italian cycling team were listed at €22,500, while the Black Inc Zero tubular disc wheelset was priced at €18,400.

In comparison, the most expensive bike listed ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was the Worx WX-R Vorteq Track, at €28,000.

With incoming regulation changes potentially banning radical track bikes such as the Hope HB.T and Look P24, it looks as if major cycling nations will need to go back to the drawing board and create bikes that are not only fast, but reasonably priced.

What counts as ‘reasonable’ according to the UCI remains to be seen, though nations will doubtless be hoping for clarity sooner than later given the limited time scale to develop new bikes and equipment before the next Olympic Games.

The new Black Series Corsa is the lightest production bike in the world, at 5.24kg, according to its designer, Andy Wallis.

The Black Series range of bikes and components has long been the ’secret’ or ‘special projects’ label of engineer and designer Wallis, the owner of Poshbikes.

Wallis says: “Whenever a new frame, wheelset or component was required to outperform the standard item, or a specific bicycle is required for a factory race team, when one was not available from their current line-up, a custom item was created under the Black Series codename.”

Over the years, this special project division has amassed a collection of frames and components that have proven themselves for pro riders. Yet they’ve never been available to the public, until now.

Wallis is readying a complete line-up of Black Series bikes and components, including road, aero, gravel and hardtail XC mountain bikes. There are also bars, stems, seatposts, wheels, hubs and a host of small parts, all under the Black Series name.

This special-edition Corsa tips our scales at an outlandish 5.338kg (size-medium). That’s with standard butyl inner tubes, as the bike was being studio shot when I came across it.

Wallis claims the bike weighs in at 5.241kg in full tubeless trim.

Frame and fork details

The frame is a single monocoque construction made with a complex dual-mould technology. The Corsa frames are all proportional, meaning the diameter of the tubing expands across the sizes. This is intended to ensure the ride is the same from XS to XL sizes.

The geometry is aggressive, with a super-short back end with 405mm chainstays.

The Corsa frame has generous tyre clearances (conservatively 36mm, although it looks greater than that) and a threaded T47 bottom bracket shell.

The head angle is race-bike steep, and the front centre is longer than standard road bike geometry.

Wallis tells me the idea behind the Corsa is to build a classic climber’s race bike, yet one that adds stability on descents with the longer front centre.

The frame and fork are light at 595.7g (unpainted, size medium) and 348g (300mm steerer), respectively. That’s impressive for a bike with internal routing and clearance for 36mm tyres. It gives current featherweight bikes such as Scott’s latest Addict RC (640g) and Specialized’s Aethos (585g, size 56cm) a run for their money.

Attention to detail

This Black Series bike, however, cheats the scales further thanks to its build. The 220g (100mm x 42cm) one-piece bar/stem is made in collaboration with German lightweight specialist Schmolke. The internally routed one-piece design bonds the stem piece to the bar. That means the combination is available in any size you could wish for.

The carbon crankset is also a collaboration, with carbon specialist THM, weighing 289g (172.5mm) with a Carbon-Ti chainring at 112g.

Conventional wheels, unconventional weight

The Corsa wheels, which use a conventional 28-spoke build, connect the 280g rims via Sapim CX-Ray spokes, with Black Series’ own ultra-light hubset (64g front, 149g rear). The wheels weigh in at a mere 1,081g a pair, including tubeless rim tape.

They’re shod with Tufo’s 220g Comtura Prima tubeless tyres in a rough-road ready 32mm width.

Completing the build is a Corsa seatpost made in collaboration with THM and weighing 85g (27.2x350mm). It’s topped with a Black Series Corsa saddle at an astonishingly light 52g. The 27.2mm-diameter post is available as an inline or offset option.

As you might expect from a brand born out of Poshbikes’ history, the attention to detail goes further in the pursuit of weight reduction than you’ll see from perhaps any other brand.

Take the Black Series Corsa thru-axles, for example.

These are made from a moulded carbon shaft with a ceramic insert for the hex key slot. They are tipped with a metal-threaded end piece that’s keyed and bonded to the shaft. The weights for the road versions of these axles are an astonishing 17g (rear) and 15g (front).

Even the bottle cage bolts are the lightest available. These carbon fibre bolts are sourced from the aeronautic industry. A set of four M5 x 15mm bolts weighs only 2g.

Availability and pricing

This ‘Ultimate’ SL build will be available from Black Series before the end of the year with an expected retail price of £16,000 / $21,650 / €18,350.

Wallis told me he’s confident he could build an even lighter version of the bike at less than 5kg.

American customs officials will bar the import of bicycles manufactured in Taiwan by Giant Bicycles following an investigation that found evidence of forced labour.

The US Customs and Border Protection (CBP) will detain bicycles, bicycle parts and accessories manufactured in Taiwan, effective immediately after issuing a Withhold Release Order. 

CBP said it identified five ‘forced labour indicators’ during its investigation of Giant: abuse of vulnerability; abusive working and living conditions; debt bondage; withholding wages; and excessive overtime. 

CBP said Giant, the largest bicycle manufacturer in the world, “profited by imposing such abuse”, resulting in goods produced below market value and thereby “undercutting American businesses by millions of dollars”.  

Acting Executive Assistant Commissioner of CBP’s Office of Trade Susan S. Thomas said: “Importers have a responsibility to do their due diligence and know their supply chains. CBP will continue to investigate allegations of forced labor and take action when we find it in U.S. supply chains.”

In a statement published on its website, the Giant Group said it is “firmly committed to upholding human rights and labor protections”.

Giant said it has taken “concrete actions” in the last year: “Since January 2025, we have fully implemented a Zero Recruitment Fee Policy, under which all recruitment, agency, and government-related fees for newly hired migrant workers are fully covered by the company.

“By the end of 2024, we completed upgrades to employee housing, providing a safer and more comfortable living environment.”

Giant Group said it will file a petition to seek the revocation of the Withhold Release Order and explain to the CBP that the company has “already adopted appropriate measures”. 

Giant said it expects some shipments to the US may experience delays and inspections in the short term. 

“The Group will continually provide timely updates and maintain open communication with global stakeholders to foster a responsible and resilient industry environment,” the statement said.

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