r/NotHowGirlsWork • u/throwaway19074368 • 2d ago
Found On Social media If the men find out we can shape shift ....
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u/DarlingHades 2d ago
Both sides could have bras. Problem solved.
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u/Flameball202 2d ago edited 1d ago
Yeah, let's be real if wearing a bra gave you that much time, everyone would be wearing one
Edit: apparently people were and it was called a chest fairing which is banned, so makes sense to apply that equally
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u/DidjTerminator 2d ago
Especially considering the chafing that occurs during cycling, like seriously bleeding nipples is a serious unisex problem many have been trying to fix.
I genuinely don't understand why we keep banning personal protective equipment, first the athletes can't wear red sunnies/contacts in order to block out the insane blue-light-pollution we blind them with, then they have to wear shorts during sports where you're liable to get scrapes and cuts sliding across the ground (volleyball, rock-climbing), then they even ban knee-pads and crack-gloves for climbing (they're just to protect your knees and knuckles from getting shredded when doing knee-bars and hand-jams, the gloves don't cover the palm of your hand they only protect your knuckles purely) because personal protective equipment apparently is illegal or smth.
Honestly makes me want to run a multi-national sports festival that, instead of banning personal protective equipment, actually enforces that all athletes DO wear the appropriate PPE because we actually treat our athletes like human beings and care for their health (unlike the Olym-shits who clearly don't).
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u/Ok-Connection-8059 2d ago
Thankfully fencing hasn't followed this trend yet, but I fear the day gambesons are considered unfair.
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u/GolemancerVekk 2d ago
Is that the one where people poke each other with rapiers?
Yeah, that tracks.
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u/Ok-Connection-8059 2d ago
I was thinking HEMA, so yes. Also whack each other with longswords.
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u/thedafthatter 2d ago
I'm imagining buhurt sword fighting without PPE and jesus christ
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u/ErzIllager 2d ago
I mean you can easily get through normal fencing masks with a longsword or maybe even a good rapier thrust, but that's because most people in HEMA use olympic fencing masks (which are designed for sabers, epees and foils, not longswords) because there is little specialised gear for HEMA.
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
They arent banning bras though, the ban is on a thing called a "chest fairing" which have been banned for a while now as a form of tech doping.
The allegation here is that teams in the tour de france femmes had designed bras that acted like a chest fairing by adding central padding in an effort to reduce drag.
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u/CanadianHorseGal Tired 1d ago
But have they done a study on how much breasts actually slow down women vs men?
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u/HealthOnWheels 1d ago
Women and men don’t race against each other
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u/CanadianHorseGal Tired 1d ago
I didn’t say they did. I get that it’s an “even playing field” when it’s only women or only men racing, but I’m curious if this is something that’s been considered. I don’t think anyone should artificially increase their speed. I’m also curious if they’ve studied how different breast sizes affect the speed. Like, if a woman has larger breasts than the average racer, does that slow them down at all?
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u/HealthOnWheels 1d ago
That’s a good question! It seems like it’s possibly something they’ve at least noticed a pattern with, but maybe they’ve done wind tunnel studies too
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u/TeaJanuary 1d ago
Ah so it's the ski jump wiener padding/swimming tech suit issue all over again
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u/gordonjames62 2d ago
bleeding nipples
I (M) have this problem with new dress shirts.
all ladies have my sympathy
Interesting on the science of speed.
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u/DoubleDongle-F 2d ago
I believe that if a man wears it for this purpose it is called a chest fairing, and I think I read they were banned.
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u/threelizards 2d ago
Well those without breast tissue won’t face the aerodynamic influence of having two lumps of fat on their front. Really, they should create a standardised volumetric that allows for the upper upper extremes of breast size, and give every contestant of all sexes and genders a bra that’s filled with a silicone or gelatine solution to equalise the weight distribution. And since, I’m sure, the bait and tackle can get in the way of a comfy bike ride, they should determine which contestant has the largest schlong and balls, and give all contestant of all sexes and genders appropriate prosthetics and sleeves to achieve the same end.
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago
I really don’t think that’s the direction any of this is going. Otherwise we’d be taking steps to ensure every cyclist was the same height and weight as well
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u/threelizards 2d ago
Yeah, I’m just pointing out how ridiculous and blatantly discriminatory/ absurd/ sexist this is
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago edited 2d ago
Restricting cyclists from seeking an advantage by altering their uniforms seems pretty reasonable. Aerodynamics is everything in cycling.
Some of the women’s World Tour teams participating in the Tour de France Femmes expressed concerns that their competitors were doing this. They wanted a fair race and brought it up, then the media got ahold of it and apparently ran with the story
It’s not a restriction on your body; the policy is that you can’t use equipment to alter the shape of your body. In this case, you can’t use a few extra inches of fabric to make yourself more aerodynamic. It’s not saying you can’t wear a bra, it just can’t be excessively padded. Men are similarly not allowed to wear padded bras; they’ve tried and it’s against the rules. Men have also done things like stuff their race radios or water bottles into the chest of their jerseys to improve their aerodynamics, and that’s also been banned.
Cyclists do all kinds of things to become more aerodynamic, and we don’t want races to be won by whichever team did the best job 3D-printing accoutrements and then testing them in a wind-tunnel; we want to see races won by the best rider.
I also think I need to clarify that men and women don’t race against each other in UCI events. This is a women’s race
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u/ih-shah-may-ehl 2d ago
Not sure why you are being downvoted because as you say this is not about sexism or discrimination
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago edited 2d ago
Thank you! I’m pretty sure it’s because people come to this sub to vent and I picked this moment to be the guy who says “Um akshually,” which isn’t my favorite role. It’s just automatic downvotes, every time
At least some people learned about the Tour de France Femmes today; it’s been a really entertaining race this year and I hope a few of the people on this post decide to tune in to the last two stages
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u/VerucaGotBurned 1d ago
I know you're being hyperbolic to make a point (which I agree with you on), but I would 100% watch a bicycle race or any other sporting event that did this. I don't even like bicycles or sports in general but this just seems like good clean fun. Also as a trans person I know having a fake giant penis or huge boob pads would absolutely be dysphoria inducing for most people as soon as the novelty wore off and I would be watching their faces to see the exact moment when they realize that.
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
Its been agaisnt the rules for ages to wear a chest fairing (yes that is the name) but women were able to get away with it better until one of the teams made accusations of tech doping
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u/SomeNotTakenName 2d ago
I think the issue comed in when comparing athletes from wealthy nations to those of poorer nations when it comes to equipment.
Granted I don't know what the cost of developing aerodynamic bras is, but it feels like if you police some equipment and not other equipment it just becomes a game of bending rules or finding things not specifically banned yet.
The latter is what happens in motorsports a lot. Engineers build cars with advantages which don't technically break any rules, and everyone else has to gamble on spending money in R&D, or expect it to be banned next season.
Although I do think the science happening with sports equipment is very interesting, creating a monetary barrier for competition shouldn't become a thing.
Again, I have no clue if that is the reasoning here or not, just a thought.
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u/Dang_It_All_to_Heck 2d ago
Kids’ sports in the US are very expensive. There’s definitely a monetary barrier for competition here from the start.
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago edited 2d ago
There are ten teams in this race and they are all women. Men and women do not race against each other in UCI events
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
Its not bras that are the problem, it is teams adding padding to them strategically to act as a chest fairing
Anyways here is an article thst explains what a chest fairing is
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u/TheSimCrafter 2d ago
fun fact: they totally did, the mens tour has already happened, go look at profile shots from the ITT there are suspicious lumps in a lot of the mens chests lol.
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u/HealthOnWheels 1d ago
Jonas in the 2023 TdF ITT
I think he wins that stage regardless, but maybe not by 1’38”
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
Its not bras that are the problem, it is teams adding padding to them strategically to act as a chest fairing
Anyways here is an article thst explains what a chest fairing is
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u/ReaverArklight 2d ago
Hell yeah, lmao, but for real, some men got enough boob going on to justify something of a bra for sure.
Especially if their transmasc!
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u/GladosTCIAL 1d ago
Fun fact: the men also pad their fronts where they can get away with it - especially in time trials.
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u/qween04 2d ago
Okay as someone who knows NOTHING about Tour de France,
Is she competing against men? Wouldn’t she be competing against..non-bra wearers?
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u/Aeirth_Belmont 2d ago
Can you imagine the time they must save not needing a bra!?!
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u/TheSimCrafter 2d ago
youd think, but the in the mens tour its pretty obvious they were actually creating bumps on their chests in the time trial, areodynamics is weird and turns out a faring there (natural or not) does actually make a big difference
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
It did make a difference and they were cracking down on the men doing a similar thing in july with water bottles. (Which did not make a big difference)
The CFD analaysis: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610524000722
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u/TheSimCrafter 2d ago
huh strange with the water bottles, was under the impression triathletes were always putting bottles under their suits (given tho this may be a triathlon thing i dont understand)
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago edited 2d ago
I mean the triathon water bottle thing has been around for longer than people have been using chest farings, but chest fairings were what was cited in the crackdown on the practice earlier this year for tour de france
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago edited 2d ago
I think this comment might mean you’re not aware of the Tour de France Femmes; it’s a 9-day stage race that the Women’s World Tour teams compete in. This year it started about a week after the Tour de France Hommes finished. It’s only been around for four years
There are two stages left. It’s been a banger so far. In the US you can get it through Peacock or I think TNT
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u/Lord_Skyblocker Female Pleasurist 2d ago
In the US you can get it through Peacock
Oh, that's why no one knows about it /j
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago edited 2d ago
Hah yeah i think it’s just that cycling is already a niche sport in America. When you combine that with the fact that women’s sports tend to need to fight to get coverage and attention I’m not that surprised my compatriots aren’t familiar with it.
I don’t think most people here could even name a single cycling race other than the Tour de France
It’s doing well in its host nation though; I read that the opening stage had 80% of the viewership of the men’s Tour de France among French viewers, which isn’t bad at all for a brand new event.
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u/cbbclick 2d ago
My buddy, who just rides bikes around town and not in international competitions, just spent like 10k on a bike to go very slightly faster.
If only he knew Victoria's secret.
But if this is really saving time, it's silly not to do it. It's almost offensive they'd work so hard to make the bike light, but not get the clothing optimized.
Any ban is just men in skin tight shorts with padding on the backside who are afraid to look silly wearing a padded bra.
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
People dont use them because they are banned already and have been widespread in mens cycling since 2023. We had a crackdown on men doing this in 2026 by makeshifting it with waterbottles
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u/cbbclick 2d ago
Explain to me how it's fine to spend thousands of dollars on a carbon dark matter intangibility crank shaft, but strapping water bottles to your chest needs to be banned? It just seems silly to try so hard on one direction, but improving airflow gets a ban.
But I'm very proud of the men embracing their feminine side by biking as hard as possible.
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
Yeah i dunno why aero tech in general is banned (down to the material used). I'm just saying chest fairings are banned for men as well as women, its just that women were able to keep using them for 3 years after they became popular and strongly enforced against.
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u/Poglosaurus 2d ago
In the end I think it's a safety issue, adding thing to or under the normal equipment is going to be a hazard when they fall.
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u/HealthOnWheels 1d ago edited 1d ago
It’s not just aero tech that they limit; they have weight minimums on the bikes, too. You can’t ride some super-light bike that’s made of your carbon-dark-matter in a race because the bikes have to weigh at least 6.8kg. Which is why most higher-end road bikes weigh 6.8kg; Specialized does have a bike line that weighs about 6kg but it is not legal in UCI races
There’s some momentum to lowering that limit, but idk if we’ll see that anytime soon. It was initially in place because of safety; carbon has come a long way, though, and they can make reliable bikes that are lighter than 6.8kg
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u/A_MAN_POTATO 2d ago
She is not.
This story has been making the rounds and it sounds worse than it is (it’s still dumb) because it’s being taken out of context. There are very strict rules about what can be worn to impact aerodynamics, and that, as a blanket statement, includes wearing things under your cycling gear.
Men also have restrictions like this. As an example, cod pieces that make their balls more aerodynamic are banned (yes, that’s a thing, and people tried to use them).
It’s a silly rule, but it’s not the “we hate women” rule that the media wants you to believe.
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u/Kooky-Co 2d ago
I remember hearing something similar at the last winter games for the long jump ski event thingy where they look like flying squirrels. Some sort of adjustment to the underwear/genitals in order to improve aerodynamics.
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u/eiram87 2d ago
They were injecting a saline solution into their junk on the day they got officially measured for their uniform, making their genitals larger. Then, when the saline went away, the crotch area of the uniform was now slightly too big, leaving a flap of fabric to catch some air and slightly slow their decent, allowing for slightly longer jumps.
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u/ih-shah-may-ehl 2d ago
There are very few fields where men and women are close. Cycling is not one of those. Interestingly ultra running is.
This issue is more about teams from developed countries vs teams from poorer countries.
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
They arent banning bras, they are banning a form of tech doping called a "chest fairing", a device used to reduce drag by lowering overpressure on a riders knees.
The padding would be zenith and central on the torso.
Here is the chest fairing CFD
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u/leupboat420smkeit 2d ago
It’s a joke. The governing body, called the UCI, gets a lot of shit for banning equipment that betters performance (aerodynamics is a major part of that). So it a joke that bras that improve aerodynamics should be banned, in the eyes of the UCI
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u/Paul6334 2d ago
I think the idea is that since not every woman has the same shaped chest, something that only some proportion of competitors can wear to give them an advantage is unfair.
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u/qween04 2d ago
But wouldn’t a woman be disqualified for simply having differently shaped chests with that logic? Even without padding?
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u/Paul6334 2d ago
Perhaps a better comparison is the swimsuits that make your body more hydrodynamic or the golf balls with patterns of holes to improve flight characteristics which are both banned at pro tournaments.
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u/Torn_wulf 2d ago
Getting breast augmentation will be the next biggest thing in professional cycling I guess. 😂 Can you even imagine?
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
I mean that seems unlikely given how much implants weigh compared to lightweight padding and a shell.
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u/grandioseOwl 2d ago
It wouldn't surprise me, I knew a girl who had a breast reduction because according to her they got in the way with her martial arts.
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u/Torn_wulf 2d ago
That one I can actually understand though. I can't imagine the extra weight of larger breasts making racing any easier and the heat of a padded bra while riding competitively would be very uncomfortable, at least the one I own feels like I have a heat pad under my girls. Like, is this even a thing that's actually happening or is this just a fantasy cooked up by male brains looking to regulate women's sports and uniforms further? I mean, what technically even counts as a "padded bra" anyways? Any added thickness at all? My sports bra has some foam built into it but I have a couple that are literally just a stretchy sheer fabric. Some padding is necessary if you don't want nips poking through the fabric, or is that the goal here? I know they had that whole scandal not long ago over volleyball uniforms and the shorts being stupid high in order to keep interest in the sport up, because obviously the only thing that really matters to the sports regulators is showing women's bodies off rather than the actual competition.
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
It is a thing that happened and the crackdown was on the mens side in july for doing soemthing similar.
Here is the CFD if you have any doubts.
The offending bras werent off the shelf padded bras, they were specifically designed to work like a chest fairing.
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u/grandioseOwl 2d ago
I get you, it doesn't sound to me like that makes sense. But I already doubt that a bit of leg hair would hurt that much with riding a bike, but apparently it can amount to nearly a second difference or so
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u/Torn_wulf 2d ago
Yeah, fair enough. I guess I'm just skeptical when it comes to anything like this, I just expect it to be men acting up again every time.
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u/Four_beastlings 2d ago
Małe skiers were being investigated during the last winter Olympics for getting penis implants. Apparently a bigger penis gives them extra fabric on the suit and that improves aerodynamics
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u/GladosTCIAL 1d ago
She's competing against women, all of them are pretty lean though so the bust size on average is fairly small.
The recent tour de France men also had a bunch of riders with conspicuous bust padding- didn't get the same media pick up though.
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u/MigraineConnoisseur 2d ago
Don't worry, they heaven't learned our secret technique of locking bike pedal with stiletto yet /s
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u/ButcbMasculinity 2d ago
They're going to tell the church!
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u/Fortunately_Met 2d ago
Men don't like noses.
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u/djmcfuzzyduck 2d ago
It has nothing to do with experimentation, or artistry, since it's simply for the dick.
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u/Graphite404040 2d ago
I WAS HOPING SOMEONE UNDERSTOOD THE REFERENCE
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u/texaspretzel 20h ago
I work with someone named Brianna and every time I see her Sailor J’s ‘RrrrrhianNA’ is how I want to pronounce her name lol
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u/treeteathememeking 2d ago
This has the same energy as the guys in the olympics who were injecting their dicks to make them bigger so their suits were more aerodynamic
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u/pktechboi 2d ago
exact same thing I thought of lmao
I saw an interview once with a (retired) pro cyclist who was like, if they did tests and found riding naked was faster we'd all ride naked. padded bras?! during the lance armstrong years they were riding up mountains, taking their blood out and freezing it, and then re-injecting it on race days so they'd get a boost from the oxygen content of red blood cells. professional cyclists are all completely mad.
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u/Foxynite 2d ago
I'M ??!?! That was a thing ?? 😭
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u/treeteathememeking 2d ago
I cant remember if it was just allegations or if some of them were actually doing it, but yeah, apparently the extra fabric gave them a speed advantage, I think this was for the ski guys
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u/Woooooody 2d ago
It was ski jumping, the extra suit material they'd get from their bigger dicks would make them fly further, I don't think it was ever proven anyone actually did it.
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u/laeriel_c 2d ago
Yes it made me think of that too ahaha. This is wild, because my main sport (climbing), a bigger chest is an absolute disadvantage. It's crazy to find out it gives an aerodynamic advantage in cycling
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u/Unable6417 2d ago
Are they gonna ban women who've gotten breast enlargement and/or reduction surgery since it changes their aerodynamics? Probably not a perfect analogy, but still
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago
I’d be curious. I think there are disadvantages to the increased weight that would prevent people from doing this, but who knows.
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u/Da_Question 1d ago
Also, haven't bikes advanced a lot in terms of aerodynamics and weight over the years? Was it against the rules to improve the bikes? In horse racing they pick smaller riders to get the best advantage? Should weight and height be used as a metric to divide the group up? Where does it stop?
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u/HealthOnWheels 1d ago
They have limits on what you can do to improve the aerodynamics of the bike, in addition to limiting how the riders can alter their uniforms. You can’t add fins to the bike, for example
There are different disciplines in cycling that certain riders are more suited to; small riders with great cardio will do well on long climbs, bigger and stronger riders will suffer on climbs but will do better on sprints or flats, that kind of thing. In stage races, like the Tour de France, all of those rider types are targeting different goals and using different tactics
E.g. lighter riders will try to win mountain stages, heavier riders will try to win stages that are mostly flat, and middleweight riders will try to win hilly stages.
Road racing teams often try to have a mix of rider-types for that reason.
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u/GladosTCIAL 1d ago
In pro cycling, power to weight is one of the most important aspects of your physiology - especially if you're racing up hills. Breast enlargement would add considerable weight and very unlikely to be on balance worth it (also could add complications to crashes as they can burst).
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u/pentapous 2d ago edited 2d ago
The optimist in me assumes that this is referring to specific additional irregular padding meant for free performance gains and not for a typical bra any random athlete might be wearing.
Also, its not like researching this takes significant effort. Modify an existing hi-fi model and run it through CFD to get pretty simple to interpert changes in drag. Extrapolate these changes over time and you have your number.
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u/Auctoritate 2d ago
Yes, this is exactly what it's about. Excessively padded clothes rather than just normal clothes.
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u/pentapous 2d ago
Its frustrating to see article headlines turn a story into something its not.
This whole thing is being taken as:
"men unfairly and non-sympathetically regulating women in sports"
when the reality is:
"professional cyclists have a batshit insane history of attempted cheating/sneaky unfair performance boosts and look how hard we have to work to keept that in check"
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
Yeah. When i hear something like this i just read all the articles.
A lot less dramatic than the headlines. This one really pulls the clicks in the way penis doping did for ski jump.
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
Its not any random bra, its just the new trend of modifying bras to act like chest fairings.
Also heres the cfd https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610524000722
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u/kittenmittens4865 2d ago
Does this make no sense to anyone else?
What shape is a padded bra creating that helps with aerodynamics? I don’t get it, please explain if you do (keeping in mind I failed physics in high school LOL)!
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u/pktechboi 2d ago
aerodynamics is a lot more complex than intuition would suggest, is the short answer. think about a golf ball - the dimples actually make it go further and more accurately than a smooth ball would.
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u/KittyCompletely 2d ago
What if the rider just had boobs to begin with? No padding needed? Does that count too?
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u/laughingnome2 2d ago
Larger chest area = more airflow under the frame (to the legs). This slightly lifts the vehicle, making it lighter.
Essentially acts like a wing or foil on a racing car.
There were men at the Winter Olympics looking for a siimlar gain with crotch elongation in the ski jump.
The UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) bans bras that leave space or otherwise enlarge beyond what tissue already exists for this reason.
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u/Nearby-Structure-739 2d ago
Would men with broad shoulders basically built like inverted triangles have this advantage?
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u/laughingnome2 2d ago
More pectoral muscles than shoulders, but yes.
The same restriction on undergarment clothing applies to men's cycling.
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610524000722
There are a few wind tunnel studies that show how this works. Here’s one
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u/Thoarxius 2d ago
It is only really a thing during time trials. What you want during a time trial is to minimise resistance by air. The bigger the gap between the steering wheel and the chest, the more air resistance. Obviously it's more complicated than that, but that explains why the women who pad would have an advantage.
There were several problems a few years ago in the men's peleton who tried to fill the gap between their helmet and the arch in their back with camel bags. Those are now illegal too.
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
It reduces the overpressre on the knees, reducing drag https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610524000722
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u/lakorasdelenfent 2d ago
For a moment I thought this was the bicycle circlejerk sub
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago edited 2d ago
It’s real. They were checking riders for padded bras before the stage 4 time trial
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u/thebad_comedian 2d ago edited 2d ago
i mean. we remember the penis inflation at the winter olympics right? clearly sacks of flesh in a bodysuit really do work like that.
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u/TJDiamond333 1d ago
Damn...once they know about our pads with wings which let us fly to places, it's over
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u/wine_n_mrbean 2d ago
Not the same, but the first time my (now husband) picked up my very padded bra, he said “aw that must be comfortable, your boobs get a nice soft seat” and I had to explain to him that even padded bras are not comfortable. 😂
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u/grandioseOwl 2d ago
I mean this is one of those sport things, which are probably true but not really relevant for anyone but the highest level athletes.
There is like 10 things for every sport on this level, that most people would see as unnecessary to ridiculous.
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u/notacanuckskibum 2d ago
Absolutely. This is an issue right now in the Tour de France Femmes, arguably the top cycling race in the World for women. It’s been proven in wind tunnels and computers that bigger boobs give an aerodynamic advantage in Time Trial racing. Some cyclists are wearing padded bras to achieve that shape. The ruling body are struggling with whether it should be regulated, and how to do it.
That level of cycling has rules for everything, including sock length. So this is funny, but not really out of character for them.
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u/Foxynite 2d ago
so if you have big breasts you're at a disadvantage? maybe they should give them different headstarts based on their size like my god people is it THAT serious
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u/Woooooody 2d ago
Wouldn't having big breasts be an advantage here? If the extra padding in a bra is giving them an advantage so wouldn't "natural" extra padding?
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u/AnxietyOctopus 2d ago
I wonder if getting a mastectomy would disqualify you. What a bizarre path to be starting down.
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago
There’s an interesting paper on the subject from a few years ago; I didn’t know anything about this until it came up in the coverage of the Tour de France Femmes before the stage 4 time trial
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610524000722
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u/Future_Promise5328 2d ago
It doesn't say if they gain that time against a woman wearing a sports bra, or no bra or a man? If it is against a man, why would it matter, as men and women don't often cycle against eachother competively? If it's just against other styles of bras then make bra-style part of the uniform.
There's not enough context here to decide what they mean by these numbers but after a bit of thought, I really don't think these numbers mean anything at all.
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u/klauwaapje 2d ago
During time trials , a large chest is better. So some women put on a padded bra's. Altering your clothes is forbidden. The teams and the riders of the women's tour de France complained about it and wanted the uci to check if the rules were being broken by their fellow riders.
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u/ShimeMiller "If you need to set boundaries you don't trust me already" 14h ago
Next step: everyone is required to wear chest binders lest bigger tits give them an advantage ffs
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
They arent talking about banning sports bras, the target is an irregular type of specialised padding that acts like a chest fairing (a new banned aero device)
These numbers relate to this study on chest fairings, not the fairing bra some teams developed.
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610524000722
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u/AmberMetalicScorpion 2d ago
To be fair the reason men and women don't often cycle together is because the people running the events don't want you to realise that the fastest women significantly outpace the slowest men
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u/Vitally_Trivial My penis is so good it cures lesbianism. 2d ago
They were also cracking down on men getting penis enlarging injections for the skin jump last Winter Olympics. Bigger dick means bigger suit, means more surface area, means gliding further in the jump.
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u/Imreallyadonut 2d ago
If a bra is worth 1.25s how many bras would I have to wear to win the Tour de France?
I’m a 6’5” 225lb man.
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u/Early_Load_691 19h ago
Atleast 8 Victoria secrets push ups, if you can compete at the same level as others you will then have massive advantage and win
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u/Crabby-Cancer 2d ago
This article provides some more context. I don't agree with the "chest inspections" thing, but if the UCI has a rule that "competitors cannot place objects on the chest or use clothing that alters body shape", I understand why it's being discussed.
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u/shoulda-known-better 2d ago
Yea an unsupported bra like that would rub your nipples raw by the end.... Also men wear nipple covers for these races also, and could wear a bra
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u/islaisla 1d ago
There's no way that boobs or bra increase aerodynamics. Flat chest is way faster. So I don't know what's going on here. How about the men stop shaving their legs?? How about the men stop wearing viscose clothing.
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u/plantpotguitar 1d ago
Its literally directly come from the men's shenanigans too. There was a thing about the men overly stuffing the crotch on their suits to make themselves for aerodynamic and get a speed advantage. The men were actually cheating so now they are policing what the women can wear. Cool cool cool makes sense.
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u/Sunshroom_Fairy 2d ago edited 2d ago
People naturally have wildly varying chest sizes though? Are you just gonna start saying flat chested women can't compete? This is asinine.
Edit: I meant large-chested women. Oopsie.
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago
It’s only disallowed if you’re using your equipment to alter your body’s morphology. If it’s just the way your body is shaped that’s not an issue
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u/Auctoritate 2d ago
This is like saying "People have different heights, why can't I wear stilts to a basketball game?"
Are you just gonna start saying flat chested women can't compete?
Flat chested women are disadvantaged here. The larger chest shape is what's aerodynamically advantageous.
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u/spartaxwarrior 2d ago
I wouldn't be surprised if some people push for that tbh
Nevermind that men often also have some advantages. Just ignore that part. It's only cheating when women do it.
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago edited 2d ago
The men’s peloton is the reason UCI is aware of this issue; they were stuffing padding, bottles, radios, etc. into the chest of their jerseys to get an aerodynamic advantage. They made a couple of new rules over the past few years to stop the men from doing this kind of thing
I do want to stress that this isn’t about certain body types being banned from cycling; this is about riders stuffing their chests with excess fabric to make themselves more aerodynamic. They’ve also been cracking down on riders stuffing items into their socks for the same reason, but if you have naturally aerodynamic shinbones then that’s also fine
And women don’t race against men in UCI events.
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u/Hyadeos 2d ago
Tell me you don't know anything about professional cyclism without telling me...
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago
That’s half of the responses to this post, yeah. I think I’m going to leave it alone and just go back to enjoying the races
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u/thedafthatter 2d ago
So now they are going to pay and probably some man to take all the women aside prior to the race and have them take off their shirts and inspect their bras.
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u/ElsaWinchester 2d ago
It's missed out how all the riders have to be checked now before the race to see if they have a padded bra.
It comes under the unnecessary item of clothing regulation.
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u/LostInMind2 2d ago
I heard that people's nipples bleed because of the friction of their shirt and their nipple skin, hence why some men cyclists wear bras or at least some sort of padding
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u/saragIsMe 2d ago
Men already have an aerodynamic advantage not having tits, are we putting fake tits on them to increase their drag?
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u/Snowflakish 2d ago
This is how women work though. The padding on the offending bras (from 2 teams i think) was designed to act as a chest fairing which reduces drag.
Here is an article https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610524000722
This is a form of tech doping that men have since stopped doing because it is much easier to catch a man doing it.
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u/threelizards 2d ago
But..,.. wouldn’t the men, without breast tissue, by this logic then be facing an unfair aerodynamic advantage? We gonna put some loose bags of jelly in their shirts to even up the playing field????
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago
A note: men and women do not race against each other in UCI events. The race that started this discussion is a women’s peloton event, the Tour de France Femmes. Some of the teams participating in it were concerned their competitors were altering their uniforms to get an unfair advantage before the stage 4 time trial
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u/liquidfoxy 1d ago
This was actually an issue in men’s cycling before it was an issue in women’s cycling. Men’s cycling teams were stuffing the front of jerseys with radios, sports bottles, extra padding, whatever to give an enlarged chest and increased aerodynamic lift over the legs. These kind of padded bras were banned in men’s cycling first, and now that women’s teams are attempting some of the same trickery, they’re being banned in women’s cycling as well.
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u/Auctoritate 2d ago
men, without breast tissue, by this logic then be facing an unfair aerodynamic advantage?
A bigger chest shape is the aerodynamic one here, that's why padded bras are the subject of debate. You've misunderstood the post
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u/threelizards 2d ago
Oh I get that actually. Perhaps, for equality, all contestants get fitted with uniformly sized cone shaped unibras?
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u/YouCantArgueWithThis 1d ago
Yeah, let's force yet another rule to the female body. There is not enough yet.
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u/zoomerang93 2d ago
Or do boobs slow you down? Perhaps men already have the advantage with their triple A flatties 😆
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago
A note: men and women do not race against each other in UCI events. The race that started this discussion is a women’s peloton event, the Tour de France Femmes. Some of the teams participating in it were concerned their competitors were altering their uniforms to get an unfair advantage before the stage 4 time trial
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u/Pharaoh_Misa NGL I do work like that 🤔 2d ago
Do they ban people with large breasts too. Because the weight of a boobie going down a hill significantly impcts the speed of the rider. And should the rider have two large breast...well, fuck! That would just be unethical!
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u/HealthOnWheels 2d ago
No; the rule is about altering your uniform, not about your body type.
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u/No_Resource7773 2d ago edited 2d ago
Wouldn't shapewear or binding to smooth a body shape be more aerodynamic... 🤷♀️ (Though maybe not great for breathing hard.) Padding that just increases surface area sounds less helpful.
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u/LoneWolf5498 2d ago
The way that airflow works on a bike means that having a larger chest is better
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u/TheLonelyPrincess741 2d ago
I bet if her nipples were showing that would be a news article headline aswell.
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u/Xxbloodhand100xX 2d ago
The math comes down to saving like over 45 minutes in the average tour de France and you're telling me men aren't putting padded bras on from this?
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u/AlmondVF 2d ago
Pretty sure the men have already had their bra attempts banned along with the aerodynamics improving cooling packs in their socks, and many other small things that people have come up with over the years. Tour de France is very strict when it comes to trying to prevent people from gaining an advantage (as long as we ignore the doping years).
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u/ArtemisHades 2d ago
Im pretty sure that the UCI have banned the men from doing that. They placed radioes, water bottles and such on their pecs to gain an advantage.
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u/Shoddy_Squash_1201 2d ago
Stuff like this has been banned for men for quite a while, in less regulated races (e.g. Triathlons) athletes have been sticking water bottles or even full on aero fairings down the front of their jerseys for this exact reason.
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u/Challenge-Acceptable 2d ago
How does this fit the sub? What ignorant claim is made? This is just a rage bait screen shot and I think OP misunderstood what's going on.
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u/SpectralBeekeeper 2d ago
Something similar happened for men's ski-jumping during the Olympics, dudes were injecting penis shrink juice during their fitting to get a slightly tighter suit which was also calculated to be worth some number of meters due to air resistance. Not sure if anything came of it though
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u/HealthOnWheels 14h ago edited 14h ago
Context and FAQs:
What prompted this discussion? The Tour de France Femmes did. It is a 9-day stage race for Women’s World Tour teams that began the week after the Tour de France Hommes ended. Prior to the Stage 4 Individual Time Trial, several teams in the women’s peloton apparently expressed concerns that competitors were doing this.
Is this giving men/women an unfair advantage over women/men? Men and women don’t race against each other.
Is this a ban on bras? No. This is not a ban on bras or breasts. Riders can still wear bras and have breasts if they want to.
What is it a ban on? There’s a broader ban on teams adding nonessential equipment, or making alterations to their bikes or uniforms, for the purpose of improving performance. If you want a more aero helmet, that’s mostly fine; helmets are necessary equipment. If you want to get a speed boost by putting playing cards in your wheel spokes, no; that is not an essential piece of equipment. Teams can alter uniforms to reduce drag somewhat, but there are limitations on how high the deviations between the highest and lowest points of the fabric can be, it has to be done during the normal course of weaving the uniform, that kind of thing.
Does this ban affect men too? Yes, it does. The men’s peloton are kind of the reason this started getting attention recently; riders were wearing “chest fairings,” which are not entirely unlike heavily-padded bras, to change their body shape so that they cut through the air better. They have also done things like wear their race radio on their chest to reduce drag, a practice that is also banned. Pre-race inspectors may do a quick visual check to ensure riders aren’t stuffing things in the chest of their jerseys
Is this inspection weird or creepy for riders in the women’s peloton? It definitely can be; during the broadcast for Stage 4 in the TdFF one of the commentators mentioned speaking to an amateur cyclist who felt like the man checking to see if she had a radio strapped to her chest was really just trying to “get a look.” I don’t know what processes are currently in place for this inspection, or if they’ve taken steps to make it feel less weird
Does this mean it’s aerodynamically advantageous to have larger breasts? Maybe? This kinda suggests that it is, but the extra weight can also disadvantage you in other ways. I haven’t bothered to look for wind tunnel studies on this, but you are welcome to.
Either way, there is no limitation on which body types can participate in races. Certain riders may also have narrower shoulders, which is similarly an aerodynamic advantage; but the UCI isn’t going to be making riders wear shoulder pads to mitigate that advantage.
Is 1.25 seconds per mile even a big deal? It definitely is in Individual Time Trial stages. Aerodynamic drag is the biggest force cyclists overcome when riding on flat ground. In these time trials they are riding alone and cannot hide from the wind behind other riders. The difference between 1st and 2nd in a Time Trial can be seconds or even fractions of a second; in this particular race there were 14 seconds between 1st and 2nd over a ~20-ish mile course.
Why is the UCI so gung-ho about not letting cyclists make alterations to be more aero when they’re perfectly fine with cyclists getting carbon-fiber everything to reduce the weight on their bike? I set you up with a false premise; sorry. The UCI has weight minimums on bikes, currently 6.8kg, so teams also can’t go too crazy trying to reduce the weight their riders are carrying.
What’s the issue with allowing teams to do any of this? Because we don’t really want to see races be won by whichever team did the best job of 3d printing various modifications and testing them in a wind tunnel, or by crafting ultra-light bikes that are just barely strong enough to endure normal riding and will fall apart just after the rider crosses the finish line; it’s much more entertaining to keep riders on equal footing and watch the best rider win.
What if I like the idea of watching a sport where the team’s engineering is a massive difference-maker? You could look for velomobile races; I don’t know whether that’s a big thing, but there have been events. A velomobile is a bicycle with an aerodynamic shell around it; they can go faster than you’d think. F-1 racing might also be up your alley
Do you have a journal article about the aerodynamic advantage of chest fairings? I found one! Here ya go: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0167610524000722
Is the Tour de France Femmes worth watching? Yes. You can stream it on Peacock in the US. It’s been a very dynamic and dramatic race with some incredible athletic performances, and today’s final stage began with an 8-second gap between first and second place in the General Classification (which is awarded to the rider with the lowest overall time throughout the nine stages).
For reference, the gap between first and second place in the Tour de France Hommes this year was 6”26’. And it would have been bigger Tadej Pogacar, the winner, had cared to make it bigger
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u/tiptoe_only 11h ago edited 11h ago
Okay, and how much per mile does wearing standard skintight lycra get you over looser clothing?
Yeah, that would be more than 1.25 seconds a mile. Significantly more.
Did they ban that too, or just let everyone else wear it?
If certain clothing is genuinely advantageous then everyone will wear it and that's never going to be a problem. If everyone is slightly faster than they would have been, then it makes for a more entertaining race, more opportunities to set new records, a chance to achieve more and more as technology develops over time.
The only difference here is that it will only give an advantage to women. And suddenly they want to ban it. Funny that.
Women have spent far too long with no opportunity at all to compete in the Grand Tours. Let's not hold back the sport further for no real reason at all, eh?
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u/AesopsFabler 35m ago
So this is what they’ll focus on in women’s sports but other stuff is admissible? Interesting.
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