A few years ago, bike manufacturers began their first steps past the restrictive aerodynamic bike design rules of the UCI, starting with triathlon bikes.
Since many of the people who want to ride very aerodynamic bikes are multi-sport athletes (and are not necessarily concerned with the rules of cycling’s specific governing body), the disregard for the UCI’s rules made sense.
But bike manufacturers have largely avoided major line-crossing with road bikes… until now.
Most accurately, you might call Diamondback’s new IO an unconventional road bike, and if you saw the company’s mind-warping Andean triathlon bike from last year, the design influences will be quite familiar to you.
The IO is aimed primarily at multi-sport athletes, touted as a sort of do-it-all bike with a comfortable position for training that’s also suitable for both draft-legal and non-draft triathlon events.
The most notable resemblance to the Andean is the prominent proboscis at the bottom bracket, which is a pod for storing tools and tubes – and mostly what makes the IO non-compliant with UCI rules.
In terms of aerodynamics, you’ll notice orange-colored divots on the trailing edges of the fork, down tube, and seat tube. The scalloped depressions are designed to create a small area of air that counterrotates relative to the air rushing over the frame. It’s counterintuitive, but that small turbulent area actually reduces drag and helps air reattach quicker after it leaves the frame. Diamondback calls this the Wake Control System.
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