Endura's Hour Record breaking skinsuits banned by UCI
First unleashed onto the WorldTour in 2015, the Surface Silicone Topography (SST) technology will been banned by the UCI for use in competition when new rules come in to force on the 4th March 2019.
Used in the team kits of Movistar Team and Bigla Team, as well as being Bridie O’Donnell and Vittoria Bussi's Hour Record breaking outfits, Endura's Encapsulator skinsuit has been deemed to have fallen foul of the UCI regulations and therefore will be banned for use in competition.
The Endura Encapsulator suit in action on Vittoria Bussi. Photo credit Eilidh McKibbin.
The UCI has now decreed it illegal on the basis that the Surface Silicone Topography (SST) silicone textures on the forearms has been applied on top of the standard fabric, creating from something other than just the fabric of the garment.
Having launched SST on to the WorldTour in 2015 at the Vuelta a España, Endura said the fabric treatment was the result of years of research and development, studying airflow in the wind tunnel in conjunction with the development of ground breaking new production methods to bring theoretical ideas to real world riding.
The strategically positioned 3D chevrons positively affect airflow around the body, reducing drag at the speeds relevant to the target rider.
The silicone chevrons have been deemed 1mm too tall by the UCI.
Endura said that it was already back in the lab working on the next generation of aero kit when the UCI invited it at it's own discretion to provide input into the framing of the new rules back last summer, along with several other WorldTour clothing sponsors, to discuss the rule change.
"What we have in the wind tunnel for testing now will be on the backs of our pro teams this season and available to the public soon after" said Katrin McDonald, PR manager and marketing coordinator at Endura.
Endura has teamed-up with brand ambassador Graeme Obree - who has already had his fair share of falling foul to UCI rulings, famously seeing two of his aero positions; the crouch and superman positions banned after successful record rides - to highlight other cycling designs and innovations that have also been banned by the UCI over the years.
"Who better to look at some of the other revolutionary designs that have been banned by the sport's governing body than our disruptor-in-chief, Graeme Obree, no stranger to the UCI's notorious technological whims" said McDonald.
"It was a good run," she continues, "our Surface Silicone Topography has been banned by the UCI for use in their competitions after early March this year - it's just too fast."
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Hannah is Cycling Weekly’s longest-serving tech writer, having started with the magazine back in 2011. She has covered all things technical for both print and digital over multiple seasons representing CW at spring Classics, and Grand Tours and all races in between.
Hannah was a successful road and track racer herself, competing in UCI races all over Europe as well as in China, Pakistan and New Zealand.
For fun, she's ridden LEJOG unaided, a lap of Majorca in a day, won a 24-hour mountain bike race and tackled famous mountain passes in the French Alps, Pyrenees, Dolomites and Himalayas.
She lives just outside the Peak District National Park near Manchester UK with her partner, daughter and a small but beautifully formed bike collection.
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