Total Mass For UCI Races.

[landsurfer]

Maybe it is really time to ban minimum bike mass.
Lets have a total rider and bike minimum mass.
"No Competitor will have a combined mass of cycle, clothing and person of less than 75kg"
..or 80kg ... or more ....

So that would be interesting ..
The super light, yet starving, cyclists would have to carry ballast.
The big and heavy Cyclists would be able to eat more than just gels and sugars ....

It's a win / win situation.....

[Paulatic]

In horse racing I’d always put my money on a 11-8 weight jockey carrying 2lbs of lead over a 10-10 weight jockey carrying a stone of lead.
Handicapped cycle racing would it work?

[Bmblbzzz]

In horse racing is that ballast related only to the weight of the jockey or to the total weight of horse + jockey? Presumably a heavier horse has more muscle than a lighter one, just as a heavier cyclist does. So an overall minimum mass would unfairly penalise lighter riders by making them ride bikes which were much heavier in proportion to their body weight.

[Postboxer]

I think in horse racing the handicap weight is related to form, to try and level the playing field, rather than total weight. Having a total weight in cycling surely would just mean all the riders would aim to be that target weight, more muscle to power that weight uphill, it would mean the lighter riders couldn't compete, it comes down to power to weight ratio, if they all have the same weight, the higher powered riders win.

[Tiberius]

In motorcycle Grand Prix racing the Moto3 class has a minimum rider/bike combined weight regulation (148 KG). The class is designed to attract the younger riders, some of them are tiny schoolboy/schoolgirl types who look like they should be out delivering papers not riding 150 MPH Grand Prix bikes.

Works well with very (scary !!) close racing.

[Bmblbzzz]

There are obvious differences in that in both motorsports and horse racing, the motive force is:
a) non-human
b) far heavier than the human