Movistar rider injured by disc brake in Paris-Roubaix

[tabmaster]

As I see it...

Pros:
1) Better modulation/feel at the lever.
2) Undoutedly better braking in the wet.
3) Less rim wear.
4) You can continue if you buckle a wheel (but you can do this already if you open your brake adjustment lever).
5) Less hand fatigue on long descents.

Cons:
1) Heavier (by 400-500g at the moment).
2) Less aero. As the post above said, who wants a heavier, slower, bike?
3) Different braking rates in a bunch (unless everyone is on the same equipment). If everyone on the same equipment (ie disc) that would mean anyone who wanted to road race (at least at UCI santioned events) would have to have a new bike plus it would, at a stroke, render all current wheelset unraceable! I think this is the manufacturers goal (that has actually now, for the time being at least, become a very big 'own goal').
4) Potentially dangerous in a 'crowded' crash (Ventoso). For example, think if the crash that involved Cancellara et al in the tour last year... Roubaix injuries might have been minor by comparison. Add a cover/fairing? More weight/aero penalty! Yes, chainrings are nasty too, but they are covered, for the most part, by a... chain? Oh, and they are kind of a necessary to going forwards whereas we already have a functioning braking system (which, I know, is far from perfect in the wet).
5) If the manufacturers can't manage to get their act together over bottom bracket 'standards' then what chance is there that they'll manage it with QR/ the various 'standards' that abound for through axles? If their past performance on bottom brackets is anything to go by, nil. So what happens in a road race if you need a wheel from neutral service? At the pro level, they might be able to get a spare bike, at an amateur level that'll be race over.
6) More complex mechnicals & therefore servicing. The cable actuated rim brake is simplicity itself!

So, I now read about manufacturers who have put all their eggs in the disc basket for the next couple of model years at least who have had their plans ruined... A bit like Ventoso's leg, My heart bleeds... I have no sympathy at all. Maybe the British goverment can bail them out - they managed it for the equally well deserving, greedy, bankers.
Being a hot topic of discussion, even at club level, i have not heard one person say 'It would be a game changer, we should all be on discs' or words to that effect.
I feel now, having thought about it properly for the last couple of weeks, that yes, discs do have a place on road bikes - if you're out on your own and have to have the latest thing, are a commuter in all weathers, perhaps even at sportives. However, I remain resolutely unconvinced that they have a place in 'road racing' - notice the phrase 'road racing', for the reasons above.
For those who feel that their choices on disc technology has now been reduced by the knock on effect of the UCI's decision to suspend the trial of discs in the pro peleton and those who suggest that I can still ride my old tech, that discs are coming and that we should deal with it - hey, nobody is stopping you from purchasing & riding a disc braked road bike, just don't expect to be able to start at a UCI sanctioned amateur event any time soon. I'm sure the large multimillion $/£ manufacturing companies will welcome your custom.

[Dez33]

http://road.cc/content/news/187652-spain-joins-france-banning-disc-brakes-road-events-including-sportives
Now Spain has joined France in banning disc brakes in road events.

Odds on USA being one of the next national cycling authorities to ban them?

[Nefarious86]

Heavy slow training bike = Race bike always feels faster [emoji14]

[fogman]

I would hate to be one of the early adopters who just paid $10,000+ USD on a top of the line disc road racing bicycle. If you are an amateur racer and USA Cycling were to decide to ban disc brakes in sanctioned events and this were your only bike, you would be out of luck.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[chaekm84]

Disc brakes in the peloton difference is the murder weapon or not .
I think that disc brakes need to prohibit the use in road bike game.
If you think that disc brakes and is entangled terrible.
I think the right decision in uci.

[maxxevv]

Disc brakes in the peloton difference is the murder weapon or not .
I think that disc brakes need to prohibit the use in road bike game.
If you think that disc brakes and is entangled terrible.
I think the right decision in uci.

They need to ban chainrings by the same logic ... they are dangerous, they have sharper, serrated cutting edges and they are even more exposed than brake discs.

And before anyone says they are essential to the proper function of a bike while disc brakes are optional ...

There is such a thing known as belt drive and internal gearhubs. Those are infinitely safer by comparison if you want to apply the same logic and rigorous requirements of safety.

[Stolichnaya]

maxxevv, it is like this discussion is going in circles now.
Chainrings are usually covered by the chain when racing at speed.
Discs ADD an unnecessary extra element of danger to racing and pros are not clamoring for more braking power (other than those manly men racing Campy Deltas back in the day.)

[bici1977]

maxxevv, it is like this discussion is going in circles now.
Chainrings are usually covered by the chain when racing at speed.
Discs ADD an unnecessary extra element of danger to racing and pros are not clamoring for more braking power (other than those manly men racing Campy Deltas back in the day.)

Yes, the chain rings are covered when racing at speed, but show me one crash at high speed with several riders where the chain stays on the chain ring. So there.........

Sure, the chain does not fly off at every crash, but surely we can agree that more often than not, the chain is coming off and therefore the teeth of the chain ring are definitely exposed.

[Martin.dk]

maxxevv, it is like this discussion is going in circles now.
Chainrings are usually covered by the chain when racing at speed.
Discs ADD an unnecessary extra element of danger to racing and pros are not clamoring for more braking power (other than those manly men racing Campy Deltas back in the day.)

Yes, the chain rings are covered when racing at speed, but show me one crash at high speed with several riders where the chain stays on the chain ring. So there.........

Sure, the chain does not fly off at every crash, but surely we can agree that more often than not, the chain is coming off and therefore the teeth of the chain ring are definitely exposed.

Well you have the "classic" well known road bike with it's different features (and chainrings can be a risk I agree) but the difference is that you add another risk to the system when you add discs.

/Martin

[Miller]

Quite apart from all the is/isn't technical arguments, the Ventoso incident has certainly allowed disc haters to give full flow to their anti-disc feelings. And feelings is where it's at, these banning decisions seem short on fact and long on feeling. Let's build a wall to keep all the discs out!

[mrlobber]

I think tabmaster summed it up perfectly (if someone else didn't do it earlier in this thread already), and we might just stop here without starting another circle of argument.

[bici1977]

I think tabmaster summed it up perfectly (if someone else didn't do it earlier in this thread already), and we might just stop here without starting another circle of argument.

Oh well, if you say so.........


Besides, there are soome more factors to take into consideration:

- the weight factor is a non-factor, as all bikes must adhere to the UCI weight limit anyway. It simply means mechanics do not have to put lead weights into the hollow cranks anymore....

- some companies might have put all their eggs in one basket, but is that a basis for Schadenfreude when the UCI goes and pulls the plug on said companies and their business plan? I mean, after all, its pretty much every manufacturer, so whos bike you gonna buy if all go bust? (on a side note, there are also jobs on the line then)

- disc brakes have a mile high advantage in bad weather and under long periods of breaking. If I see Sagan descending and imaging him on a road disc bike in average conditions, he might be able to negate time lost on the way up and put even some time into his opponents on the way down.


PLUS..... what if the injury was not produced by a disc?

[Broady]

Specialized staff member with a disc cover:

[Nefarious86]

But it was the rear disc that cut him.... or the chainring. Or the cobbles. Or someone must know.
Picture looks more like a piss take/photoshop TBH.

[kgt]

It's getting worse...