Understanding the 2027 UCI Handlebar Rule Changes

As many of you in the track cycling community are aware, the UCI has been introducing significant and slightly controversial technical changes effective January 1, 2027. While their intent is to improve safety and handling across the peloton, we don't think this is the "Goldilocks rule" they would have hoped to achieve. When you look at the clear biomechanical challenges that many riders will now face, we aren’t entirely convinced this blanket rule is the right fix.

These fast-approaching changes have been the talk of the town since their release, yet there is still plenty of confusion regarding which of our handlebars will remain legal come January 1, 2027. We're here to give you some clarity around the rules, and apply them to our current handlebar range.

The Two Big Changes

The 2027 regulations focus on two specific areas of handlebar geometry: handlebar width and top-section dimensions.

Article 1.3.022 of the Technical Regulations, as of 01.01.2027, outlines:

Rule Change 1: The 350mm Minimum Width

A bar must have a minimum measurement of 350mm from the outer most point of the drop. In addition, the bar must maintain that 350mm width for at least two-thirds of its total height, measured from the bottom up. This effectively outlaws bars with extreme flare.

Even if your bar hits 350mm at the outermost point, it could be considered illegal if it tapers inward too aggressively. Figure 37 of the latest UCI equipment regulations demonstrates this well.

How the UCI Rules Apply to SKAT Handlebars?

Unlike the UCI’s outside to outside measurement, all SKAT handlebar sizes are measured from the centre to centre of the drop. So, we've created a couple drawings to illustrate how these UCI rules apply to our SKAT handlebars.

In the drawing above, we’ve inserted a vertical line through the centre point of the drop on our 350mm SKAT Endurance Handlebar. Now, here's how the two-thirds rule works on top of that.

The distance from the centre of the top of the bar to the centre of the drop is 120mm. Under the two-thirds rule, the top third of this distance doesn't count, and that's 40mm (120÷3). So the remaining 80mm (the lower two-thirds portion) must be at least 350mm wide at every point within that zone.

Looking at the drawing, you can see that by the time you reach the 40mm exclusion zone, the bar has already started to flare inward and narrow. We've highlighted the area that falls short of the required 350mm measurement, in red.

How bar tape solves this?

ARTICLE 1.3.022 of the same UCI technical regulations also states that “Accessories such as handlebar tape are included in the overall measurement”. This gives us a practical fix.

At the uppermost point of the two-thirds zone, our 350mm SKAT measures 336mm, which is 14mm short of the requirement. That means you need to add 7mm of bar tape on each side to reach 350mm.

Here's the simplest way to do it for 350mm SKAT’s:

1. Wrap your bar tape normally from the bottom. The lower portion of the 350mm drop is already within the legal width, so no extra wrapping is needed there.

2. Once you reach just below the plastic grip, begin wrapping over the tape multiple times until it builds up to at least 7mm thick.

3. Continue that thicker wrap until you're 40mm below the centre of the top of the bar.

That's all it takes to meet the 350mm requirement legally. We strongly recommend measuring, after applying the handlebar tape, to confirm that your handlebar measures 350mm up to the required point. If not, you will need to wrap a little bit more.

What about smaller sizes?

Technically, the same approach works for any handlebar size, you just need more bar tape. But it gets impractical quickly. A 325mm handlebar is 25mm narrower, so instead of needing 7mm of tape on each side, you'd need up to 20mm either side. That's a significant amount of tape and it gets much harder to justify the narrower you go.

There's also a separate UCI rule that limits the distance from the outside of the handlebar to the inside of the hood to a maximum of 80mm. The UCI hasn't explicitly stated whether bar tape is included in that measurement, and historically it hasn't been, but if tape gets thick enough to be noticeable, that position from the UCI could change.

The bottom line: The 350mm SKAT is the practical sweet spot. It only needs a relatively small amount of tape to be fully compliant, without pushing into grey areas around other measurements.

Rule Change #2: The Top Cross-Section. 

The new UCI equipment regulations document also outlines that the allowable "box" for the top section of the bar is shrinking from 80mm down to 65mm as shown in boxes 2 and 3 below.

What does this mean for SKAT and Altias Sprint Handlebars?

Our Altias Sprint Handlebar was designed around maximising the UCI regulations at the time. Therefore, they have an 80mm top cross section width and will no longer be legal. 

Luckily for our endurance athletes, our SKAT handlebars feature a 60mm cross section, perfect for madison slings, and will remain legal in that respect.

So, what’s Legal for 2027? 

The Exception:

It is important to remember that these rules are specifically for UCI-sanctioned racing. While it differs from club to club, federation to federation, if your racing calendar consists of non-UCI sanctioned events, your narrow handlebars, or Altias Sprint handlebar setups will likely still be legal. Unless your local federation or club explicitly adopts the 2027 UCI regulations, these bars remain perfectly safe and effective for the majority of racers.

Stay tuned for more updates as we get closer to the prototype reveals for our 2027-compliant endurance bar.