January 29, 2007 – The international governing body for cycling is the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI). The UCI rules are the basis for the Canadian Cycling Association (CCA) Rule Book. The UCI has specific limits on the gears used by young riders. The main reasons for restricted gearing are to prevent injury and to encourage development of good pedalling technique (although this is subject to great debate!).

The OCA will be enforcing gear restrictions for young riders at all OCA sanctioned races. For the Junior (U19) category the restrictions will be as defined by the UCI. For all other riders (cadets (U17), U15, U13, etc) the U19 gear restrictions will be applied. This means that bikes for all riders under 19 year of age will be checked before and after every race to insure that they are not using illegal gears. Please note that the OCA strongly advises that all young riders chose their gearing with care.