>>1490981There was a period with lots of experimentation in the 80s and 90s, and the UCI clamped down on it because Merckx was assblasted that Moser wrecked his record with pic related. And then LeMond won that TdF with clip on bars and aeroshit on the last stage and pissed off just about everyone in the cycling world, and specifically the entire country of France.
Anyway, while the UCI has influences on what road bicycles look like, I don't think that they're as pronounced as you think they are. After all, the bike industry has been able to push trifaggotry, MTB, and now gravel, none of which the UCI has much influence over. The reason why the Terry-style bike ultimately failed was because retailers didn't want to stock 24" wheels and tires. 650c solved the same toe overlap and bb height problem for smaller riders, and again the reason for it getting pushed out wasn't the UCI, it was the bike industry wanting to maximize profits (less product variation = lower COGS = more $$$), which meant killing consumer demand for 650 by pushing myths that smaller wheels are somehow slower. If the industry really wanted to, they would be able to push any shit they want down the UCI's throat, just as they did with disc brakes on road racing bikes, which literally nobody asked for, but the industry was desperate for a way to sell new high-margin fredsleds.