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TECH NEWS
katie compton disc brake injury.pngDisc brake debate reignited as top CX racer Katie Compton cut to the bone
The disc brake debate has hit social media again with cyclocross racer Katie Compton’s husband sharing a gory picture of a badly cut knee, apparently caused by a disc brake rotor. We say apparently because we don’t know the full facts of the incident that occurred.
The said incident took place in a cyclocross race in Lille at the weekend, Katie Compton’s final race of the season. The injury was the result of two riders squeezing Katie on the first lap and causing her to crash, and we presume her knee impacted a disc rotor.
What happens when two riders make poor decisions and can’t be patient on the first lap and squeeze Katie into a crash? Disc rotor cut to the bone. Not a happy way to end a great seasonpic.twitter.com/7ORlxqWXh0
— Mark Legg (@MrKatieCompton) February 10, 2018
Despite the deep cut, Katie finished the race, ending up 7th overall, an impressive ride considering the circumstances.
- Have disc brakes really led to injuries in peloton?
Disc brakes have become commonplace in cyclocross, the first UCI sanctioned discipline that was allowed to use disc brakes. Their uptake was slow at first, but now most of the world cup racers are using them. Spotting a cantilever brake is rare these days.
There haven’t, to our knowledge anyway, been any disc brake incidents in any big cyclocross racers (but if you know of any feel free to correct us in the comments section). It’s on the roadside where there has been much drama, with several injuries wrongly attributed to disc brakes.
- British Cycling to allow use of disc brakes in all road and circuit races
In further comments posted to social media, she said: “The good thing about disc rotor slices is that they don’t hurt till much later and the bleeding that doesn’t want to stop cleans the wound nicely.”
Some action has been taken to try and reduce the likelihood of a disc rotor causing an injury. Rotors must now have rounded edges, and there have been various videos posted online of people placing hands on spinning rotors to demonstrate the effectiveness of the rounded edges.
- Road discs: what will they cut?
But does more need to be done? But some people have been calling for more protection, with lightweight covers mooted in some quarters of the cycling world. So far we’ve not seen any disc covers in use, and only one bike, the Parlee Disc TT, has covers but they are more for aerodynamics than safety.
Asked on Twitter if she thinks rotors do cut, Katie said: “They sure do. Like a hot knife through butter. Doesn’t mean I still don’t love them for the stopping power.”
But what do you think? Let’s hear your thoughts on this one. Is it a clear indication that more needs to be done to protect riders from potential disc brake injuries?
David worked on the road.cc tech team from 2012-2020. Previously he was editor of Bikemagic.com and before that staff writer at RCUK. He's a seasoned cyclist of all disciplines, from road to mountain biking, touring to cyclo-cross, he only wishes he had time to ride them all. He's mildly competitive, though he'll never admit it, and is a frequent road racer but is too lazy to do really well. He currently resides in the Cotswolds, and you can now find him over on his own YouTube channel David Arthur - Just Ride Bikes.
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37 comments
Chapeau for continuing the race- and the comments in this article suggest she hasn't complained abnout the use of discs in racing - quite the contrary.
There was no kicking off in the MTB world about the introduction of disc brakes at competition level that I remember - has anybody got any reliable comparable stats (or even anecdotal evidence of gashed knees etc) about such injuries from the MTB world - especially downhill where the speeds are at times similar / likelihood of crashing has got to be higher than road racing or CX?
(In 20 yrs of cycling with discs on MTB then Road / CX I've never known anyone do this in dozens of crashes I've had / seen / heard of so I assume the risk is tiny)
Next we'll have to have Hi Viz chevrons on black cars so they can be seen at night or a sign saying "Warning Contents might be hot" on a take away coffee cup in case people think a cup of coffee might not...be...oh, hang on....
She did really well to finish and place in the top ten!
She must have steel ovaries!
Many years ago I put a similar hole in my knee from a crash in an mtb race. I was all hard and finished that too.
Trudged along to a&e to get sorted and was less than pleased to learn that the time I'd left it, and the amount of mud I flung into the wound meant it was unviable to stitch.
Had to leave that bad boy open... took weeks to heal and left an awful scar.
Moral of the story: being a big brave boy/girl means fuck all the next day when you are staring at a longer than necessary recovery period.
Had to leave that bad boy open... took weeks to heal and left an awful scar. Moral of the story: being a big brave boy/girl means fuck all the next day when you are staring at a longer than necessary recovery period.[/quote]
Obviously a pure, unbiased and scientifically accurate test needs to be made. Luckily, road.cc have done this already.
http://road.cc/content/tech-news/218061-road-discs-what-will-they-cut
This is all much of a muchness. You need to see a repeated pattern of injury rather than just the odd freak accident. I'd be she'll never have this sort of injury ever again if was a betting man.
Imagine someone in the peleton comes off and smashes their chin on the floor, are we going to move to full face helmets or just say "that was a bit of bad luck"?
People in cycling are smashing the hell out of something at some point, it's what happens when you mix soft flesh and bones with hard metal things, hard road surfaces and speed. Look at the guy that crashed into the road sign and flipped over after taking what looked like a big hit to to lower regions.
My profession has elements which are somewhat boring. That wouldn't stop me complaining if my workplace introduced TPS reports, making it more boring than it was previously. The difference is, there isn't a braying mob of people who have bought their own TPS reports at inflated prices, as part of some leisure activity, who now round on any critic of them, nor magazines and web sites funded by the sale of, amongst other things, TPS reports, writing slanted articles and inviting readers with no more information to go on than a photograph to make uninformed judgements.
Disc brakes are just another in a whole list of things on a bike that are hazardous, but they aren't banned/made safer and have caused injuries in the past, so let's get some perspective eh?
Examples:
1) Spokes - finger severing risk, never banned.....
2) Chainwheels/Sprockets - sharp, finger trapping hazard, never banned......
3) Rim brakes - burn risk, puncture risk on long descents, never banned......
Cycling is a sport with some inherent risks, however minor/unlikely - if you want to do a sport without risk, play FIFA on your XBox........
I have a feeling that some of this is down to people who can't afford/don't want to go to disc brakes and I get that, but it's no reason to make ridiculous claims to get them banned. Disc brakes aren't going to kill anybody, they may lead to a few cuts/burns, but probably nothing worse than the initial accident sending you down the road in the first place. On long/steep descents, they may well save some lives by stopping brake heat going into the tyres, so it's swings and roundabouts.
Pays your money, takes your choice. For transparency, I can't afford to get a disc brake bike, doesn't mean I don't think they're a decent idea.
I'd counter that by saying that wheel manufacture is controlled to limit potential injury. Who remembers Spinergy's? Banned because they presented a significant cut risk, and also had a habit of failing spectacularly.
Even now, there is a minimum number of spokes a wheels can have, in part to minimise the risk of a hand/arm/leg getting cut off.
Chainwheels do offer a cut risk, but somehow these injuries are never as bad as you'd imagine they could be. With 100 years of historic data to call on, the risk / reward ratio has deemed they are suitably safe.
Sprockets offer minimal risk, I've never heard of a cassette injury - cassettes are fairly well protected by the frame and the nature if the cassette means it is extremely hard to get any level of penetration from impact.
As for rim brakes. The burn potential is lower than that of disc brakes. You can't use that to counter the safety concerns of discs. The potential blow out however is worthy of mention, although could be countered by the dangers of over-heating discs on long descents.
My point being is that the current risks have been looked at and mitigated against when appropriate. Why are people so afraid to accept that there is a potential risk here?
To be frank, one documented injury in a season is hardly alarming news, so I do not fear there needs to be any knee-kjerking here.
But... to dismiss the sport as dangerous, to cite other potential dangerous parts of a bike, misses the point here. We should not, and previously have not, introduced new dangers to the sport without due consideration.
Remember: you do not face a puncture risk with rim brakes if you are riding on tubulars and that's ecactly what pros are doing!
Disc brakes are just another in a whole list of things on a bike that are hazardous, but they aren't banned/made safer and have caused injuries in the past, so let's get some perspective eh?
Examples:
1) Spokes - finger severing risk, never banned.....
2) Chainwheels/Sprockets - sharp, finger trapping hazard, never banned......
3) Rim brakes - burn risk, puncture risk on long descents, never banned......
Cycling is a sport with some inherent risks, however minor/unlikely - if you want to do a sport without risk, play FIFA on your XBox........
I have a feeling that some of this is down to people who can't afford/don't want to go to disc brakes and I get that, but it's no reason to make ridiculous claims to get them banned. Disc brakes aren't going to kill anybody, they may lead to a few cuts/burns, but probably nothing worse than the initial accident sending you down the road in the first place. On long/steep descents, they may well save some lives by stopping brake heat going into the tyres, so it's swings and roundabouts.
Pays your money, takes your choice. For transparency, I can't afford to get a disc brake bike, doesn't mean I don't think they're a decent idea.
Did KfC have the radiussed rotors? So the new rotors must be rounded ( or possibly chamfered ), but are the UCI rules that a rider must use these new no sharp edge types? There must be plenty of the non-radiussed rotors in good supply.
That injury could easily be caused by falling heavily on a spoke...
L.M.F.A.O.
Speaking from experience... years ago, sliced a knee in a crash, sliding it along a spoke. Laugh that off you fat arsed tool.
Same here - banged knee on a bladed spoke - front of the knee cap. Don't remember it being particularly funny at the time.
Cro2 is abolutley right when he says..."onus should be on the UCI/ teams to eliminate hazards where possible for people who are doing a job in an environment that's already hazardous".
The argument that since the bike is already dangerous we can add things that make it more dangerous is absolutley absurd!!!! I hear high placed people in the bike industry say, "You are more likely to be serously injured by the chain ring". Urg...That is not the point!
Like it or not, the cost of much better breaking in wet conditions and slightly better braking in dry conditions is a bike that is more dangerous and races that are more dangerous. By what degree it is more dangerous can be argued. When it is you that is sliced on a cat 3 race you might think differently.
Discs are here to stay... and should be in some sitations, just not all situations. The manufactures have to push the industry forward and that could be at the cost of safety despit them saying safety is their main priority.
By that rationale, we should replace the drivetrain with a belt drive to make it as safe as possible.
OK why not? Do a risk benefit analysis and if it would signifantly reduce 'drivetrain injuries' without adversely impacting on the sport then they should go ahead! I've not seen the facts but it could be that your straw man is actually not a bad idea. who knows. Best to be open minded about these things .
A more realistic comparison might be the introduction of a new drivetrain system which is a bit more efficient but has more exposed edges with the potential to cause injury. Riders have no choice but to use them if their teams and manufacturer's specify them. A few are getting cut on this new exposed metal. Would you also tell them 'man up snowflake' if they complained?
By that rational if belt drives are near as fast and light than yes we shoush go to that if it is just as safe or safer. Why don't some people not get that? If we could replace the drive train with something better and safer we should... We shouldn't make a bike more dangerous for such littlitbenefit in dry weather.
What’s the evidence that this was caused by a break disk rather than the many other sharper bits on a bike? It’s strange how people are now claiming to be getting cut to shreds yet managed to avoid cassettes, chain rings, mechs, QRs, pedals and other sharp bits I have probably missed.
I found it a bit worrying that some/many where dismissive of people being caught on a disc, they may well have a blunt edge by comparison to previous but they are stil narrow enough when the full weight and kinetic energy of a body is landing across it to cut through soft flesh.
Thats flesh that isn't the skin of a melon and is totally different.
I can use a shape knife to cut a piece of meat. I can also run my finger along the blade of the same knife without cutting myself. The difference is the application of force. So if you take rider and bike combined weight of say 80kgs and propel them at 15 mph the disc rotor will have substantial force behind it. So these tests people perform where they put their hand onto the rotor to demonstrate it does not cut are useless. Really they are nonsense because the person doing this will refrain from applying enough force to actually cut themselves.
Back to drum brakes I say!
Whoa! Away with your new-fangled ideas. Nowt wrong wi' good ol' rod-operated spoon brakes.
By AndrewDressel - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, Link
Well there is because they are more dangerous in normal use than the current accepted standard road brakes (not talking about efficiency) Clearly you haven't thought that one through have you sonny?
I think this looks like a 'hard impact onto rotor' rather than 'sustained contact caused rotor to cut' but I'm also curious about the smaller cut just below the knee - QR lever?
It's all part of the same injury - about 6 inches. There's a thin cut over the bonier part of her left knee but the skin has opened up on the softer areas.
I'll wager that she's caught a pedal to do this.
That's her right knee. So it must have been another rider's rotor that caused that cut - can't have been her own. One of those other two riders has her blood on their rotor! I do wonder how fast a rotor would have to be spinning to do that. Also curious that the cut is in two parts. I do think there should probably be some serious, impartial research into rotor cuts.
Unless, of course, she was running with her bike at her righthand side, slipped and her leg went into/onto the rotor?
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