SRAM’s complaint is a rare legal showdown that could reshape how cycling’s rules are made.
SRAM has filed a competition complaint against the UCI over its proposed gear-restriction regulations, escalating a months-long dispute into the legal arena. The complaint, lodged with the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA), argues that the UCI’s planned maximum gearing test unfairly disadvantages SRAM-equipped teams, distorts the drivetrain market, and breaches European competition law.
The BCA has validated the filing and issued subpoenas to the UCI, according to SRAM. The case targets a rule set to be trialed this autumn at the Tour of Guangxi that caps maximum rollout at 10.46 meters per pedal stroke – a limit that would effectively outlaw the 10-tooth cog central to SRAM’s road drivetrains and force its WorldTour teams to alter equipment. Shimano, whose cassettes start at 11 teeth, would be largely unaffected. Shimano is also a formal partner of the UCI and has been for more than a decade.
SRAM is seeking immediate suspension of the gearing trial, a voice for manufacturers in the UCI’s equipment rule-making process, and new procedures to ensure future regulations comply with EU law. A complaint, under EU law, triggers an authority – in this case the Belgian Competition Authority – to investigate and, if it finds merit, bring enforcement action.
“SRAM is the only major manufacturer whose current pro team setup will be blocked by the new UCI regulations – regulations that hinder innovation, limit rider choice, and unfairly disadvantage SRAM riders and SRAM,” the company said in a statement.
The legal action means the company has committed to an unusually public fight, signaling a rare confrontation between a cycling manufacturer and the sport’s governing body that could reshape how equipment rules are made.
While SRAM’s complaint is rooted in drivetrain ratios and rollout limits, the act of challenging the UCI in a legal forum is significant in itself. Companies and individuals rarely take the governing body to court, and when they have, it has usually signaled a moment of deep dysfunction in the sport.
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