Last Friday, SRAM announced it is taking legal action against the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), cycling’s governing body, over a dispute concerning a proposed maximum gear ratio agreement.
The agreement aims to enhance rider safety by limiting the speeds riders can achieve. This initiative follows several high-profile fatalities during high-speed race descents, most notably those of Gino Mäder and Muriel Furrer last year.
The UCI has described this new rule as a “test” for one event – the Tour of Guangxi, a UCI WorldTour race taking place in China in mid-October – though it indicated other events could follow.
The Banned Gear Combinations
The UCI will test gear ratio restrictions at the 2025 Tour of Guangxi.
The maximum gear ratio is set at 10.46 meters of forward travel per pedal revolution. This figure depends not only on the bike’s gearing but also on tire width (and thus its circumference). In practical terms, this means the largest combination a rider could use in the race, with 28mm wide tires, is a 54-tooth chainring paired with an 11-tooth sprocket.
This is where the problem lies. SRAM (along with Campagnolo, which offers a 10-tooth sprocket in its Super Record 13 groupset) produces cassettes with a smallest sprocket of 10 teeth. Riders on SRAM-sponsored teams often choose cranksets with a 54-tooth outer chainring. Under the new rules, this combination would be banned.
The UCI’s proposed solution? Require professional teams to disable the 10-tooth sprocket on their cassettes, effectively turning their 12-speed groupsets into 11-speed for the event.
So Why is SRAM Taking Legal Action?
SRAM states that these regulations “stifle innovation, limit rider choice, and unfairly disadvantage SRAM athletes and SRAM.”
SRAM has filed a complaint with the Belgian Competition Authority (BCA), which has in turn opened an antitrust case against the UCI.
The basis of SRAM’s complaint is that it is currently the only major groupset manufacturer whose equipment for pro teams would be specifically limited by the new rule. Shimano’s cassettes still feature an 11-tooth smallest sprocket and are paired with 54/40-tooth chainrings. Campagnolo, currently supplying only Team Cofidis, offers cassettes for its Super Record 13 groupset with both 11-tooth and 10-tooth smallest sprockets.
Therefore, according to SRAM, the regulations “stifle innovation, limit rider choice, and unfairly disadvantage SRAM athletes and SRAM.” The company argues that designing new groupsets to comply with the UCI’s rule would take years.
