Disc Brakes

iainf72

Well, I was one of those who said the danger was not really there.

I appear to have been wrong

https://twitter.com/matteojorg/status/1 ... 8261230594

That said, we all saw what happened to TD with a chainring and we're not freaking out about those...

gweeds

Bike components sometimes cause injuries.

Nothing to see here.

veronese68

Is that on his right leg?

inseine

I once helped a guy in a race who’d crashed and his saddle had become detached, the frame went through his hand. Lots of sharp bits on a bike.

m.r.m.

Veronese68 wrote:

Is that on his right leg?

Yes looks like the outside of his right calf.

PhilipPirrip

And Colin Reuter got a through axle lever through his knee, could equally have been a standard quick release;

https://twitter.com/resultsboy/status/1 ... 9776001026

Time to demand that only push alongs with solid wheels are permitted in competitive events.

DeVlaeminck

Holy cow! It's worth keeping an open mind on discs and injuries in bunch racing.

oxoman

A front chainring can do worse so do we ban them. Worst injuries I've seen have been when a component has failed either causing or because of an accident and usually brake levers. MTBers have been using discs for a long while and go over a lot bumper stuff and crash more but they don't guard them. Bloody nanny state, it happened hopefully the rider will recover and carry on as normal. It's a risk partaking any sport with an element of danger that we accept when we participate.

bompington

Surely the vast majority of racing injuries come from impacting the road?

Perhaps we should ban roads.

redvision

I personally have never liked disc brakes, purely due to the appearance (I think they look fugly). However, as others have said above, accidents happen and a similar injury could have been caused by a chain ring or other bike part. Really isn't worth making a song and dance about it.

DeVlaeminck

Yes I wouldn't ban them but I'd keep an open mind.

As said above bike components can cause injury but obviously some components have a greater possibility of causing injury than others. Looking at that link I haven't seen many if any chainring injuries that bad but maybe anything caused by a disc rotor just gets highlighted.

The problem with discs is they offer no advantage for pros - they don't need wider tyres and don't care about saving their rims - they are about selling bikes.

Edit - the other point is - even if they are no more risky than a chain ring - effectively by adding discs you triple the chance of that kind of injury.

paul2718

Chain rings (and cassettes) aren't rotating unless the rider is pedalling, and there's no momentum behind them. Discs OTOH.

Problem surely goes away with a simple guard? So it should be a non-problem.

Although I've never understood the obsession with being able to stop when cycling is all about making it go. And I've never had rim brakes that weren't more powerful than the available grip. So remain baffled on the attraction.

Jez mon

oxoman wrote:

A front chainring can do worse so do we ban them. Worst injuries I've seen have been when a component has failed either causing or because of an accident and usually brake levers. MTBers have been using discs for a long while and go over a lot bumper stuff and crash more but they don't guard them. Bloody nanny state, it happened hopefully the rider will recover and carry on as normal. It's a risk partaking any sport with an element of danger that we accept when we participate.

MTBers don't ride in groups of 200 odd though?

oxoman

Bad enough racing in fifties on narrow trails so pretty similar risk I'd have thought. Biggest danger from disc brakes is burns, try touching a disc after descending greenhow hill at pateley bridge.

greasedscotsman

Have I just experienced time travel?

Alejandrosdog

greasedscotsman wrote:

Have I just experienced time travel?

yes.....

I blame unequal braking distances for the crash in the first place. Ban rim brakes. Disc brakes save lives

Pross

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Yes I wouldn't ban them but I'd keep an open mind.

As said above bike components can cause injury but obviously some components have a greater possibility of causing injury than others. Looking at that link I haven't seen many if any chainring injuries that bad but maybe anything caused by a disc rotor just gets highlighted.

The problem with discs is they offer no advantage for pros - they don't need wider tyres and don't care about saving their rims - they are about selling bikes.

Edit - the other point is - even if they are no more risky than a chain ring - effectively by adding discs you triple the chance of that kind of injury.

This basically. Some components on a bike can't realistically been engineered out with current technology and therefore you have to accept that they can cause injury (same with Bomps example of the surface you have to travel on!) but the basic principles of Health and Safety are that you eliminate risk where reasonably practicable then mitigate for those you can't remove so, unless someone can demonstrate that rim brakes are a greater risk to safety, disc brakes introduce an unnecessary hazard into bunch racing.

rick_chasey

Have to say, the disc injuries look particularly gruesome.

Pross

Rick Chasey wrote:

Have to say, the disc injuries look particularly gruesome.

Yep, I had chainrings enough times but once they dig in they stop (which is how you can identify them) so don't do huge damage.

dish_dash

The coverage of disc brake injuries kinda reminds me of this chart...

photonic69

Just very unlucky I guess? Just like the guy who got the thru-axle lever in is knee! However this is now about the 3rd occurrence of this that I have heard of in pro racing. There are probably more?

Chainrings are much more viscious with anywhere between 50-56 very sharp teeth. Luckily when crashes happen at speed in pro races then everyone would be in the large ring anyway with the chain offering protection. At climbing speed when riders are in the inner ring then the danger is mitagated.

frisbee

PhotoNic69 wrote:

Just very unlucky I guess? Just like the guy who got the thru-axle lever in is knee! However this is now about the 3rd occurrence of this that I have heard of in pro racing. There are probably more?

Chainrings are much more viscious with anywhere between 50-56 very sharp teeth. Luckily when crashes happen at speed in pro races then everyone would be in the large ring anyway with the chain offering protection. At climbing speed when riders are in the inner ring then the danger is mitagated.

Unlike us useless amateurs the average pro looses or jams their chain every 3.7 metres.

ridgerider

Pross wrote:

Rick Chasey wrote:

Have to say, the disc injuries look particularly gruesome.

Yep, I had chainrings enough times but once they dig in they stop (which is how you can identify them) so don't do huge damage.

But in a crash situation, aren't wheels more likely to be stationary rather than rotatng, therefore this discussion is related to the injury causation of non-rotating discs? So more related to heat rather than sharp edges?

FocusZing

Yep. I knew this would happen disc brakes were always going to be a problem, especially with close racing and speed. Drum brakes is the answer, the sooner the better!

greasedscotsman

Maybe this is answer?

Alejandrosdog

greasedscotsman wrote:

Maybe this is answer?

def this but not white shorts.

redvision

Ouch!
https://www.cyclingweekly.com/news/late ... ash-426085

FocusZing

greasedscotsman wrote:

Maybe this is answer?

Aerodynamics and flexibility maybe an issue, If it was a UCI policy and every team had to comply though? This seems to be a good solution to racing injuries. Popping during a crash would also add a welcomed extra element to the race.

DeVlaeminck

PhilipPirrip wrote:

And Colin Reuter got a through axle lever through his knee, could equally have been a standard quick release;

https://twitter.com/resultsboy/status/1 ... 9776001026

Time to demand that only push alongs with solid wheels are permitted in competitive events.

I'm not familiar with through axle levers but in the comments the guy it happened to suggests that they don't fold in/out in the same way as QRs and (as you fan see) the angle is typically not the same - it points parallel to rather than towards the bike - I mean it's obviously a freak accident either way but....

I don't actually give a **** as the chances of it happening to me are close to zero but...

Clearly all progress is dangerous.

redvision

Like everyone is saying, accidents happen.

Didn't a rider's saddle somehow snap off his seatpost at the giro? Now that could have been a bloody painful injury but somehow he avoided it. If it had caused an injury no one would be calling for them to be banned.

How many wheels and spokes have snapped resulting in injuries?

Accidents happen.

veronese68

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Clearly all progress is dangerous.

This ^, change is bad. Bring back the Ordinary bicycle.