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Merida Scultura Disc - 12.jpgUCI to resume disc brake trial in 2017
The UCI Management Committee has decided to recommence the trial of disc brakes in road events. The decision comes following months of discussions between representatives of teams, riders and the bike industry, and follows confirmation from the Cyclistes Professionnels Associés (CPA) and Association Internationale des Groupes Cyclistes Professionels (AIGCP) that they support the trial.
A trial of disc brakes in WorldTour races was suspended in April after Movistar rider Fran Ventoso claimed that a deep cut to his left leg sustained at Paris-Roubaix was caused by one.
Many questioned this and it has since been reported that a doctor engaged by the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry – a body which represents many of the biggest brands in the bike industry – believed the injury was most likely to have been caused by a chainring.
A UCI statement yesterday said that one stipulation for the resumption of the trial was that rotor edges must be rounded with a view to minimising the risk of cuts. The trial will be closely monitored and formally reviewed every month.
“Following extensive examination of the equipment and a detailed safety report, it has been agreed with manufacturers that the trial will restart on January 1st 2017 exclusively with discs which should be modified to ensure the perimeter edge of the brake rotor does not contain any 90 degree edges but are smoothed or chamfered.”
Earlier this month, Orica BikeExchange's Sam Bewley shared a photo on Twitter – since deleted – that showed a burn or scrape that he claimed was the result of a hot rotor touching his skin.
Alex has written for more cricket publications than the rest of the road.cc team combined. Despite the apparent evidence of this picture, he doesn't especially like cake.
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14 comments
Bewley's injury looked exactly like an injury someone else posted a photo of online (can't remember where), and he'd done it on a spoke, not a disc.
Bewley's injury looked exactly like an injury someone else posted a photo of online (can't remember where), and he'd done it on a spoke, not a disc.
Glad they are lifting this ban.
Disc brakes are about marginally more control, but the real benefits of discs are twofold, they are in frame design, and in innovation as a whole.
Now some people behave as if the bicycle industry is evil for wanting to innovate and ensure that something you bought a while ago might look outdated and therefore 'needs' to be replaced. But no one is forcing every single increment of bicycle development on you. The Pro peloton using something, doesn't force you to use it. Eventually, the bicycle you want off the shelf might not be available, and you might have to do a custom build. You are free to do that. Just as you are free to stock up on bikes and parts now, if you beleive that development has reached as far as you want it to go, and you will never want for anything else.
Personally, I welcome innovation. I welcomed the lightweight armsrace to make frames as light as possible. Now, we have done that, and it allows power meters, discs etc to be fitted on bikes near the 6.8 limit. That same weight limit and the rise of carbon allows for aerodynamics to develop. Disc brakes extend this freedom in aero design further. They also allow wider rims and lower rolling resistance tyres. They allow for more grip in corners, as you have a larger contact patch. All of this is good, and nothing to do with stopping power. The Defy and Roubaix are disc only, because they can make these bikes better meet their design brief using these components. There is nothing wrong with that.
Removing this restriction is sensible. Suddenly rim manufacturing can be innovative again, as brake tracks are no longer an issue. Tyre design will change too. There will be increased space for mudgaurds making bikes more usable etc. There will be new designs, and new innovations which previously could not have happened. So to think this is about braking is a mistake.
Now some of you might not be interested in any of this. My suggestion is that if this doesn't excite you, just buy a bike every ten years or so. The technological advance will then be enough to detect. Or, don't and ride happy on what you've got. But don't denounce the engineers, the innovators, and the manufacturers who generally want you all to have better bikes, nothing else.
Up until disks, you could just about put any full size wheel ever made on any full size frame ever made. You could just about fit any brakes to any frame. Any crank to any frame. Any derailleur to any frame.
This introduces a closed market with specific axle systems that are incompatible with any frame ever made before. Some are specific to particular manufacturers. It's inbuilt obsolescence, the manufacturers will love it, but owners will be stuck in a few years with stuff that doesn't work any more. As with the huge number of BB standards emerging, this is a big problem for the longevity of bikes, whatever you think of disks themselves.
Maybe bikes are just throwaway consumer products now. But that's hardly sustainable, is it, though I'm sure the makers will be delighted.
I'm a bit puzzled by this one ...
Any full size wheel to any frame? I have a disc-braked bike and I could, if I wish, put smaller wheels on - or indeed larger ones (its 700c @ present with lots of clearance), onto my existing hubs with the existing brake discs and the existing brakes will work. And wider or narrower rims if I wished. Which is in fact more felxible than the cantilever-braked frame that it replaced. Although I suspect a 20" diameter rim might leave my bottom bracket scraping on the ground!
I'm unsure what discs have to do with whether a crank or derailleur fits a frame - and in any case it's not entirely true. As for axle systems - many of the hubs coming out now come with, or can be fittted with, adaptors to suit QR and various TR configurations - so not really seeing any insurmountable issues.
I personally have never felt the need for disc brakes on any of my road bikes, and I've ridden in all weathers. solo, and with big groups on club rides. My fear is that we won't get the choice eventually, witness the moves by Giant and Specialized on the Defy and Roubaix models. Generally when riding a bike breaking is to be avoided, even in fast moving groups and a rider should be aware of conditions and what is going on around them. As I say it's each to their own and if you want disc brakes then that's an individual choice, but I fear that we will eventually not have that choice and will be forced onto them unneccessarily.
I'm not convinced chamfering the edge of the disc will make them any safer. If too much material is removed, it would be sharpening a blunt edge. I suppose a very small chamfer is fine, but it would have to be fractions of a mm!
Heat could be dangerous, but this doesn't occur in bunch riding situation. I just don't believe that these things are sharp enough to pose any real hazard, especially given their location. Chainrings will always be far worse.
Are the UCI forcing chainring manufacturers to chamfer chainrings?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nANsrwcWeTM
LOL
The fact Bewley deleted the injury pic says something about the whole business.
I wonder if, in a few years time, caliper brakes will be just something for poor people (that said even really low end stuff is having disc stuck on now) or some sort of elitist fetish?
Yeah that's shady. Wish we had more pros writing secret blogs.
Hmm yes I guess his sponsor and his employers found it a bit 'off message'
What about retro?
And riding that wonderful old frame.