British professional team glued fake UCI compliance stickers to bikes purchased

[JohnnyRabbit]

I prefer these stickers by far 

[PLA]

The issue is that the stickers were applied during the race and weren't applied at the factory, right?

[Sakizashi]

This is the same bike as the AMG Petronas road-bike right? It wouldn't surprise me if LightCarbon helped some other brand get UCI approval for the design, but because of how the process works, that certification belongs to the brand for the specific frame and fork tested. An example is the Cinelli Pressure and Engine 11 road frame, which have UCI approval, but the Raceline Hider and the Top Carbon versions don't.

I know it's a minority view on this forum, but I like seeing brands get their frames approved. To me, it signals that they think their bike is good enough and that they are serious about their product and brand as a player in the sport. Many Chinese brands have their frames approved, including Tavelo, Winspace, Elilee, Seka, Yoeleo, Triaero, Rollingston, Sunpeed, XDS and Pardus. The one frame that stands out on the list, though, is the ICAN FL1 since its under the OEM brand, and I would have assumed they would only seek approval for their Triaero brand.

I don't know if any frame checking happens outside of UCI-level events or the pro fields at nationals. I suspect it doesn't, which is why a team could probably get away with it for as long as they did.

[Serge_K]

I like seeing brands get their frames approved. To me, it signals that they think their bike is good enough and that they are serious about their product and brand as a player in the sport.

I wonder how much such a certification costs. Given that carbon layup know how and the entire industry is basically in Xiamen now, where any western manufacturer is a very niche, very fringe player, i really think the relevance of a UCI certification is eroding. I can see that an OEM frame would need to be UCI compliant in its measurements (the one aspect of UCI that keeps bikes looking like bikes, unlike triathlon bikes that tend to look like design student wet dreams), but UCI certified...
If i were racing and paying for my frame, or if my team were small, i'd absolutely consider slapping a UCI logo on it if it saves me signficant money, or allows me to buy better / more modern kit for a given budget.
I think enough people on this forum are riding enough bikes hard enough to know that an OEM frame can be raced on. It assumes common sense and caution, like not buying uber light fakes that apparently do break under load, but OEM has nothing to do with fakes.
In fact, if UCI stickers are preventing even one team from being created, or forcing it to shut down, i think it's bad. The world's moved on, and i know enough about the murky world of certifications to be suspicious of it anyway.

Btw, Paul Milder's book "what's wrong with china" talks about certifications in china. Nice book. Poorly made in china, same author, also a nice book.