Have disc brakes really led to injuries in peloton?

Having worked as a paramedic for a number of years and looking at the injury, though on a slight off angle, the cut looks more like a laceration rather than  an incision.   Disc brakes would cut in a very precise, straight line.  From this picture it looks like trauma second to blunt force since the cut seems irregular along it's edge.  We would see this in a car accident where a head an arm etc, is thrown into a windshield and torn open, often to the bone.   A disc brake would either slice it perfectly straight down or slice a piece of tissure off like a meat cutter.   It's hard to know what he hit but just the force of a knee plowing into the ground or whatever could create a similar injury.

Given that sock related injuries account for some 12,000 A&E attendances and average 10 fatalities a year in the UK, there must now be enough disc brake equipped bicycles around for someone to have had a bona fide disc related injury. Because it would appear to me from the evidence so far that no pro peloton rider has.

So;

1. Has anyone here actually had first hand experience of a genuine disc brake related injury in a race or indeed any situation?

2. On the other side of the coin, do any disc brake users have a  credible "disc brake saved my life when a rim brake wouldn't have" anecdote? (I don't by the way).

Biased judgement or not, sharp rotor are not really a necessity.  The edges could be milled to be blunt.  The sharp edges occur because the aluminium sheeting is cut with a laser, as it is very cheap.  Pro level could absorb the cost of higher cost rotors.    The bike industry would probably make more money with two price levels of rotors, rounded and not rounded.  Especially if rounded becomes required for amateur racing.

The problem is that chainrings so far cannot be removed from road bikes and still have a functional bike. They also are about 50%+ covered/protected by the chain. You are correct, chainrings and uncovered drive trains are indeed dangerous, and that's why we don't need ADDITIONAL cutting surfaces like disc brakes added to the bike for little or no benefit. Disc brakes are not a required technology for bicycle operation. Modern direct mount rim brakes perform very well, but won't stop a wheel as fast as a disc brake in wet conditions. It should be noted that almost all disc brakes on other vehicles use anti-lock technology primarily for wet conditions. This is to prevent the tire from skidding. On a light vehicle or bike this problem is even worse. Rim brakes already have the ability to lock up the wheel, but assuming a reasonably skilled operator not so quickly as to put the bike in a skid in wet conditions, and they rarely grab.

 However, if disc brakes without anti-lock MUST be used then the manufacturers owe it to us to provide more than a warmed over design copied from 1960s motorcycle technology. Motorcycle brakes are several millimeters wide however, and don't have sharp edges. I think it would be relatively easy for the manufacturers of disc brakes to provide a brake with a lightweight fully round 1/8 inch slick bead on the outside edge of the disc so it won't cut the riders. A self closing cam opening device could be made to close automatically when the disc is inserted into the brake. This would not fully protect a rider from a hot brake, but might provide a small amount of protection from heat as well. There may be other ways to provide a better margin of safety as well, and as an ex-engineer, I can think of a couple more I don't have time to detail. That's why there's a disc brake trial period, so these type of issues can be addressed. We don't have to give the bike industry carte blanche on safety so they can make a profit . If they want to sell products, someone should ensure they're safe. If they complain too much about UCI, perhaps the US Consumer Product Safety Commission should get involved, but if they do, bikes could come under a great deal of scrutiny none of the manufacturers are prepared for. Better that for the exorbitant prices they intend to charge for these Rube Goldbergs that they expend a little money and engineering on the safety and BTW light weight most Pro's want. Note that professionals typically are not the fussiest people about safety, so the average consumer should really consider what they say when they think a product is unsafe and tell you it sucks.

UCI to ban internal cables

I think Ventoso, stating that Maes has an injury caused by 'another disc', indicates to me that there will be lots of 'assumption' that disc are to be blamed for everything. The evidence above tells me that Maes' injury was just caused by hitting the cobbles.  But they'll blame discs because it's the hot topic atm.

Cobbled sections are slippery when wet (and dry!) and many a nasty accident has been had on them.  Perhaps the UCI should ban cobbled sections if they want a reduction in injuries?  And to think they've banned the disc trials with 'immediate effect' as rider safety is paramount....pfffft

It seems to be a bit horses for courses here. The pro teams don't feel the need for disc brakes. It just complicates the mechanics, wheel changing etc. And the riders are happy enough with rim brakes. This makes sense. Their bikes are cleaned every day so their brakes are always in great condition.

For the average commuting or weekend cyclist, who doesn't clean their bike that often then discs make total sense. Everyone knows how badly scored rims get after a winter of commuting - and how ineffective rim brakes can become in the wet.

The manufacturers are left in an unenviable position though. Obviously their customers are influenced a lot by what they see the pros using - and if the pros aren't using discs then they might be less keen to make the upgrade to discs.

Could a fairing be the answer to all this? I am sure that a lightweight affair can be easily produced in carbon fibre to keep spinning rotors from fragile flesh.

How many riders have definitely been injured due to the erratic performance of carbon rims and rim brakes? Tubs rolling off the rim? Personally I'd prefer the risk of a slice by a disk rotor than the thought of disappearing over the edge of a mountain pass as my/someone else's carbon rims braked erratically with rim brakes.

Just a thought.

Others are now coming forward with disc brake injuries, and some people are going to get sued soon 

http://www.ukcyclocross.co.uk/articles/news/action-man-scar-caused-disc-brake-injury/

Why don't the uci ban chain rings or require a chain guard to be mandatory.. Muppets..

Why don't they just modify the brake unit to pull the brake shoe closer to the hub and cover the exposed edge of the disk with a thin rubber coating or something similar.
Like a mobile phone bumper style case.

I say ban Motorbikes and cars that follow the cyclists.  Afterall they have killed and injured cyclists. 

I think it is just stupid. 

Hmm.

I think the left leg / right leg thing could be a bit of a red herring.  Crashes are funny things and with limbs/bikes going everywhere (well, not precisely everywhere, but you know what I mean), you can end up with some unexpected injuries.

I still have some (now very faint) gouges on the inside-front of my LEFT shin, which were made by my chainring when I had a fairly big crash a few years ago (bike failure - thankfully no-one else involved).  Yes, it was definitely the chainring - I remember cleaning up the black oily chainring tooth shapes that were printed on my leg.

I still can't work out how my left leg could make such contact with the chainring on the other side of my bike.

Still, really great that road.cc is questioning this point.  While I am not at all convinced about the need for disc brakes on pro road bikes for the most part, I agree that such a strong decision made with no firm evidence is not necessarily the right way forward.

And as for the comments on todays articles, it reads like a moon landings conspiracy forum

I'm getting a bit bored of the road.cc obsession with disc brakes. I can't remember the last bike review on here that wasn't all about discs. And every second article seems to be about gravel bikes(?), discs or wide tyres. These are all things invented pretty much purely to sell bikes. Between this, click-bait articles and endless reporting of the dangers of cycling I think I'm off.

I realise a lot of people have disc brakes on the road and are very happy. Me, I'll stick with being able to swap wheels between bikes, not having to throw the frame away because I bought a Betamax axle system, riding nice wheels and braking a bit more gently in the wet.