There are at least two obvious reasons for a 6.8 kg/15 lb. minimum bike weight rule: (1) to make
competition safer, by reducing the incentive to build stupid-light bikes; and (2) to make access to
competition-more equitable by reducing potential benefits from insanely high-tech ultralight bikes.
I suggest a third possibility (if this has been suggested and I missed it, apologies). Because it's
reasonably straightforward to build a bike that weighs at least a half kilo less than the limit,
this means that riders can be encouraged to carry a variety of telemetry devices that, as long as
they are attached to the bike, confer no weight penalty. Such devices could make TV and web coverage
more exciting and allow both teams and officials to monitor races more closely. Possibilities
include: Cameras attached to bikes, particularly the bikes of especially psychotic descenders during
mountain stages; instrumentation: HRMs, clinometers (how steep was it when Hamilton blew past
Ulrich?), accelerometers, power meters, microfluidic real-time drug-testing devices, etc.
I'll be shocked we don't see widespread integration of these technologies into race coverage within
a year. What other telemetry streams might be included? Ideas?