Another alternative would be if the transmission was provided by the officials and would be fitted to the bike and sealed before start but that could also spell problems.
In javelin and pole vaulting the athletes bring their own equipment. Has anyone ever cheated there? Interesting possibilities...
"User preference" does not need to be a part of the sport.
I'm sure some athletes would prefer a more ergonomic discus or shorter hurdles in track and field, maybe the gymnasts would like a slightly different geometry or spring characteristic for the bars or vault, but they don't get that choice.
I understand that people need differently sized bikes because they have different heights and slightly different ratios of leg/torso/arm lengths, but I can easily imagine having three or four standardized frames with adjustable seatposts, seat rails, and stem length, with a selection of various length stems and cranks. Just put the same wheels, the same mech, the same bars, and everything on every bike and see which rider is fastest. Call it an "Olympic bike".
This idea was already tried with the hour record. Between 1972 and 2014 a standard bike was used to match what Eddy Merckx used.
What happened was cyclists lost interest in the hour record because the bike became too dissimilar to the bikes they were riding professionally.
After a new rules for modern bikes were introduced for the hour record, interest was renewed in the discipline.
For something like the Olympics which is a one day road race or individual time trial, I think the current UCI rules for those bikes are fine. Everyone is on roughly competitive bikes. Marketing aside, I don’t think anyone really thinks the top Specialized bike is better than Canyon or Cervelo or Trek or whatever.
I don't think you understand cycling. Gear preference in cycling isn't the same as wanting to change the rules of track and field or gymnastics.
The Olympics are a one-off that happens infrequently, but still draws from the same set of world-class riders as the rest of the racing season (a season that happens ever year, and contains far more important events).
There's zero chance what you suggest will ever take root.
Not just that, but a lot of the money in cycling comes from bicycle (+bike component) manufacturers in the form of sponsorship and endorsements. Outside of a NASCAR-like pseudo-standardization, going to a standardized bike from one manufacturer for the highest-visibility events would throw that money out the window (and cause conflicts where the biggest riders are riding bikes from a different manufacturer than the one that funds the rest of their activities).
I understand that's the way it is, and I understand the power/money systems are set up in a way that no one realistically has the ability to make the change happen, but that's not intrinsic to the sport, it's just something that's grown up organically around it.
>> Gear preference in cycling isn't the same as wanting to change the rules of track and field or gymnastics.
Anectdotal evidence to support this.
Specialized had pretty high end helemets for cyclists, but for some reason, the Italian riders would also complain about them. They finally got some of the Tour riders together to try and figure out what they could to do solve this issue.
To me, it was pretty funny. They complained that the straps that came down on both sides would lay on their face and cause tan lines. I'm not kidding, this was a major issue and Specialized changed the straps so they were embedded in a way that hung off the riders face so it wouldn't cause tan lines.
You had to show people how cool it was, it was such a minor thing, but to these guys, it was a big enough problem they actually solved and then put into their high end helmets.
Helmet fit is also super tied to brand. I have tried and tried to find something that fits my head better than a Specialized helmet, but I haven't been able to do it. I mean, nothing against Specialized, but variety would be nice, and the model that works best for me from them is expensive.
Some brands fit, but not comfortably. Some brands (POC, for example), just don't fit my head at all.
It's pretty easy to find pix of 80s-era racers (e.g., LeMonde) who sported pretty intense glove tans -- pale hands, but with a circle tan on the back and tan fingers. Sharp lines on the upper arm and thigh from jerseys and shorts are still common, too, but I see less of all of this now than I did back then.
I ride a lot, and I barely have them, because sunscreen exists and I don't want cancer.
