UCI reportedly suspends disc brake trial

This happened faster than I thought it would (a rider who believe's he was cut by a disc). Sure it could have happened. As another comment noted, a Campagnolo equiped bike. I love Campagnolo but it really is on thin ice. I am the only person that I see on the road in my area with Campagnolo. The two bike shops near me have zero Campagnolo (both used to have Campagnolo in the '80's, 90's). I have two disc bikes and three rim-braked bikes. Yes, the disc's brake better all-around. I really don't think that it is a manufactures conspiracy to push the disc's. People buy equipment regardless. I live in North America and there is very little cycling support. Huge market but little support for racing etc...Most people here, if they know that bikes actually are raced, know one race, the TDF, that's it.

A funny thing, helmets were opposed by the peloton early on too. When I lived in variuos European locations, clipless pedals were opposed as well. I recall hearing potential horror stories of riders not being able to pull out of the pedals, what if the pedals jam, toe-clips work and are safer. 

I also remember when indexed shifting was being introduced. Riders were saying it was not needed, that when shifting, other riders would hear the shift and it would cause panic and the other riders would "jump" to attack. It was also mentioned that it was a manufacturer conspiracy to push the indexing.

I do agree on rider safety, of course, but come on...

Oh yes, what about the rider who smashed his face during the Paris-Roubaix? Maybe for rider saftey, a guard across the face (like an American Football helmet) is needed. A rider died during the Giro d'Italia a few years ago from hitting his face and temple area. I know it's rae but still, the guy died, not just cut!

I hope I am not offending anyone, just giving an oppinion. Thanks

I for one, am struggling to see how the injury was caused by a disc brake. Not saying it wasn't, but I just dont get it.

However, I utterly can see the potential danger of running discs in a bunch. 

If you look at MTB bars and the need for end plugs to stop potential puncture injuries, it is absolutely feasible a disc will penetrate skin when the right forces are applied.

To me the answer is very simple, just increase the thickness of the rotor by a couple of mm, or develop rotors that have a wider edge on the top. However the second option would require disc brakes having a quick release function to enable wheel changes. 

However in theory, a quick release option that could then use the wider edge of the dics to automatically centre the pads would mean simpler wheel changes and compatibility for all... but hell I wouldn't want to design that!

Are discs needed in the bunch? Absolutely not

Will discs stop crashes? Absolutely not... well maybe at first, but it won't take long for the bunch to recalibrate brake points so that crash regularity is at least on a par with now. I'd additionally argue that moving braking limitation away from caliper strength to tyre traction will lead to more crashing, as a rider has less control over road surface. 

Will disc brakes happen in bunch racing? Absolutely, the industry want / need it too much. Disc brakes open up a whole world of development opportunities, but also answer the so far unanswered problems around carbon rim braking, carbon clinchers etc. 

Why not just get the disc edges smoothed off, so they're blunt?  It doesn't seem that difficult to me.  Discs arrive with very sharp square edges today, from the manufacturers, but it surely wouldn't be that hard to get the edges rounded off so they wouldn't be like a knife edge? 

Maybe I'm over simplifying things, but this seems to me like it would massively reduce any risk that's there now.

Can we just clear 2 things up please; it's DISC not disk and BRAKE/BRAKING not break/breaking.

Probably about time they banned chainrings - they cut people up and tattoo  with oil as well.

Back to the hobby horse I say.

I run discs on both bikes, and love them - i went to Dura Ace rim brakes yesterday in the wet and was horrified at the difference in stopping power!

having said that, I'm also massively conscious that they allow me to take bigger risks, 'safe' in the knowledge that discs can help drag me back to safety should the need arise - i'm talking rocky descents, drafting trucks, going harder downhill etc

I can certainly see the risks involved in a peloton crash, and would envisage that better braking could lead some riders to increase risks themselves.

pro bike racing is pretty dangerous, chucking themselves over the cobbles of Arenberg ups that significantly with or without discs in play

Have a look at this GCN video: http://youtu.be/JplymlruPZ8

at about 2.40, they have a basic test to see how sharp discs are cf aero spokes

 It doesn't seem very likely he sliced his leg that badly on a disc, unless there were some extra sharp ones being used.  I think I'd be slightly hysterical as well if it were my leg, but he really has no idea what cut him, he didn't even notice it at first..

Banning discs in races again based on one incident seems unfortunate if it sets back their development

Mind you common sense and sporting governance don't often seem to go together..

The call for a ban is coming from riders (as opposed to sports bodies and archchair-critics) so I think we should respect their view. Whether or not discs caused the injury, if riders perceive a risk then it's real. They've got plenty to worry about at the moment with rampaging Motos, so shouldn't have to put up with every crash resembling a wrestling match with meat-slicers if they don't want to. Race rules should be led by the racers.

Seems like an ideological ban from lobbying or some old hats that dislike for new technology rather than one based on reason, logic and investigation? This decision will affect all riders, people will want to ride what the pros ride which in turn affects what the bike manufacturers make for consumers. See how many more disc road bikes there are this year. If this ban stays in affect watch that number drop off in the next couple years, despite its technological advantages

As cyclotripper said, why not just give discs a rounded edge? The main reason they *could* be risky is that they are thin, and typically unfinished/sharp. This could easily be circumvented by some design modification.

Personally I don't think that disc brakes are essential on a road bike, and I would rather spend my money on other cycling kit myself, but I don't think that should stop them being used for pro races.

Even if the performance improvements are only slight, why not benefit from them? After all, these are the best riders in the world, and the best bikes in the world. 

They should also ban electric gear shift, it is an advantage because the shight force that mechanical shifts need makes a diference on a large scale road race - prooven. Either all of them to be electric or none. the same aplies to disk brakes. And, hey, disk brakes on road bicycles? come on...

Braking power itself isn't the main advantage of disc brakes in the dry. It's the modulation, the way you're able to tweak your braking between 0% and 100%, that spells the difference.

If it were all up to braking power, V-brakes should be the end of the story. They're not. I was caught out by how powerful, yet how poorly modulated, the braking is from my folding bike's Shimano Alivio Trekking V-brakes compared to my cross bike's TRP Spyre disc brakes. It's actually a lot easier to lock up a rim brake, especially a V-brake, because the modulation is poorer.

In the wet, disc brakes are more consistent and keep working more reliably long after any rim brake gets degraded performance from a wet braking track.

Before taking drastic steps like suspending discs why not investigate the incident fully to confirm that the injury was an impact with a rotor since there seems to be some ambiguity.

But it is true that the speed discs enable on descents by enabling later braking and braking at 90% traction capacity father than 70% is likely negated by their aero penalty.

Maybe cooling fins on rotors, pads and mounts should be banned to allow the cuts to be instantly cauterised!

I agree, I can't see that the added breaking power really help when the braking is only as good as the fraction between your wheel and the road. Bigger tyres (MTB) mean that it improves that ability, but there's no real benefit to road bikes. Even in the wet disc brakes are compromised eventually.

Braking on a road bike will always be limited by the tyres, not the brake connection with the wheel. I've not had a problem with my calipers.

Although his claims have been repudiated, I cannot see him in the shots above. Is it possible that the bike in front tipped forward and sliced him on the way up (or way down)?! I can't see how aero spokes would do that if he was upright.

It's a rapid response by the UCI to the suggestion of discs being the possible cause of an injury.

How are they getting on with the issue of motos colliding with (and perhaps killing) the riders?

Personally I never saw the need for disks. If there was one they would have come earlier like with mtb where there is a real benefit. If they were that useful more of the Pelton would have taken them by now. As it is its mostly amateur gear lovers who have jumped on them and snapped them up. I think we will see many of them commenting up here about the benefits shortly. Anyway... if this is the case I guess we will see a load of cut price bikes coming soon for those who like them

Personally I never saw the need for disks. If there was one they would have come earlier like with mtb where there is a real benefit. If they were that useful more of the Pelton would have taken them by now. As it is its mostly amateur gear lovers who have jumped on them and snapped them up. I think we will see many of them commenting up here about the benefits shortly. Anyway... if this is the case I guess we will see a load of cut price bikes coming soon for those who like them

I'm probably stupid, but why do the edges of disc brakes have to be sharp? why can't they be rounded off?

This is absurd.   If there is a big crash, riders get injured.  Sometimes by bits of other bikes.  Usually by the road.  Ban all bits of other bikes?  Ban roads?

I fail to see how disc rotors make the collision risk  combination of bike and road MATERIALLY more dangerous. 

"It should be pointed out that doubts have been cast on Ventoso’s assertion that a disc brake was to blame for his injury, not least because it was to his left leg and he stayed upright during the crash, so another rider’s bike would have had to have flipped round for him to come into contact with the disc.

Indeed, Lampre-Merida team manager Brent Copeland, present with one of his riders in the same hospital where the Spaniard was being treated, suggested to Cycling Weekly(link is external) that aero spokes could have caused a similar injury."

So basically Ventoso is talking rubbish, he said himself that he didn't even realise he was injured until a fair distance down the road so how could he know a disc is responsible? He got some cuts and put 2 and 2 together and has come up with 6.