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TECH NEWS
specialized tarmac disc (2)Disc brakes to be permitted in peloton in 2017
Disc brakes will be introduced in professional road racing in 2017, according to a source involved in discussions between the UCI, cycle sport’s world governing body, and the bike industry regarding race equipment. The UCI has also opened discussions with the bike industry concerning the possibility of amending the 6.8kg minimum bike weight rule and the ‘3:1’ rule that applies to the frame, fork, handlebar, stem and seatpost.
The UCI is currently reviewing many of the rules regarding race equipment in consultation with committees from the World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI), a body that includes many of the biggest players in the bike industry.
The WFSGI’s Bicycle Committee is essentially the voice of the bike industry as far as the UCI and International Olympic Committee (IOC) are concerned. The Bicycle Committee comprises three sub-committees: the Wheel Committee, the Saddle Committee, and the Technical Committee that includes a Disc Brake Working Group.
Our source told us unequivocally that after consultations with the WFSGI’s Technical Committee, the UCI will allow the use of disc brakes in the pro peloton the season after next. An official announcement will be made very soon, certainly within the next month.
We reported last year that Jeroen Snijders Blok of the WFSGI had said that he expected disc brakes to appear in the pro peloton in 2016, but it now looks like it’ll be the following year.
At a WFSGI public meeting at Taipei Cycle last week, Snijders Blok refused to give any indication of the timescale for the introduction of disc brakes but he did confirm that an announcement was imminent, the timing of that announcement to be agreed with the UCI.
Snijders Blok also indicated that the introduction would be wholesale rather than staggered with some disc brakes permitted in some road races but not in others.
“There will be a fixed date, said Snijders Blok. “As of this date disc brakes will be allowed in road racing. Period.
“With the UCI, we are aiming for a level playing field for all manufacturers so they have as much time as possible for the introduction of disc brakes.”
Yves Mori, the WFSGI’s Communication and Bicycle Manager, said, “We have had a lot of meetings with the UCI over the past year and many conference calls within the industry, and we have provided the technical requirements documentation to the UCI addressing all technical issues. They brought forward requests regarding the heat of a road disc brake, for example, which may be an issue. We have answered all of these questions from the UCI.
“Then they asked for an overview of the status of the Pro Tour teams, where they all stand and whether tests have already been done or not.
“We collected a lot of information and shared this with the UCI, and we also made a proposal on the introduction procedure. I think we can say that we are very close to an agreement on the introduction timing and the introduction mode and that will be communicated together with the UCI very soon.”
“The UCI have said that they will start the process of approving frames that use disc brakes as soon as it is announced. They have said that they have no fears that this will be an issue for the introduction into pro racing.
“Companies need some time to adjust their products for a rule change and this is always taken into consideration in discussions between the WFSGI and the UCI.”
That’s a further indication that 2016 is too soon for the introduction.
Yves Mori also announced that the UCI has indicated that other key equipment regulations are now up for discussion, including the best known: the 6.8kg minimum bike weight for UCI-approved races.
Referring to a recent meeting between the WFSGI and the UCI, Mori said, “The UCI threw into the room the topics of the possible removal of the 3:1 regulation [where the length of the cross section of frame tubes and various other bike elements must not exceed three times the width - Ed] plus the removal of the 6.8kg weight limit. They asked for the opinions of the industry.
“We promised to collect information from all of our members and to give a statement at a later stage. Just that you know topics that UCI are thinking about but the work has not been started yet.”
Snijders Blok added, “What we see here with the soon announcement of disc brakes, the 3:1 regulation, the 6.8kg weight limitation, with changes on saddles [the UCI has asked for a report from the WFSGI concerning the current saddle regulations - Ed], the UCI has became a completely different organisation when it comes to innovation and when it comes to co-operation with the bicycle industry.”
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
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117 comments
But their will be no need for a brake track. Look at mtb rims, they have a small surface for the bead to hook into then form the shape of the rim.
Without a deep braking/rim track it will be a far lighter rim
What makes you think that? I have 25y old Campy Omega rims that have no machined brake track.
Road rims are not a$$ heavy MTB rims. It's been done already... They are already light as possible and shedding the brake track will offer only a few grams at the expense of integrity.
Tubular rims are lighter rims because there is no need to withstand the outward force of the clincher tyre against the rim. They are significantly lighter even when they have a brake track. Disc brakes require cross spokes and that mean more spokes and more nipples at the rim. Even MTB rims have not significantly decreased in weight after the decades they have been using discs.
Well said.
I can't stand those nah sayers because a few years later you won't hear them anymore and you ask yourself why so many have no vision and simply ignorant.
I have the Shimano hydro disc for over half a year now and I can't be happier and I would never go back to caliper again.
After disc is sorted we need something that can keep the chain maintenance free from all the dirt and no need to clean it but to lube.
pedalingparamedic: Equipment has to become available for general sale to be used in UCI approved races. So not-for-sale, too dangerous for the public, team issue, mountain-climb-special brakes would be ruled illegal (once the "not for sale" bit became clear).
Dave: This article is about UCI rules. Do we really need another rehash of the benefits of discs v rims for commuters and MAMILs in the UK?
Racers can race with any kinds of brakes, just as long as they have similar ones to other racers available to them. Anyone who doubts this needs to have a go on an old racer (weak, flexy calipers, with bad compounds - terrible braking).
In some situations disc brakes will be worse for racing. Mountain stages, time trials, breakaways. Discs weigh more, have a larger winded area (especially in cross-winds) and tend to rub more. Races are rarely won on descents, and even then, discs aren't going to make a significant difference to descending times over rim calipers.
That said, give the pros the choice - no skin off my nose.
What I would hate to see is an aero or weight arms race. Minimise the influence of tech R&D expenditure on racing, please! Obree was cool cause he did it on a shoe-string, from his kitchen and was a one-off, but I'd be turned off cycling if performance became about equipment to any degree.
Tech obsessed MAMILs (and I am one) will ruin this sport, if they get their way.
The bike industry is of course salivating over free rules. They just want to be able to continually change stuff, so their marketing departments can tell you this year's bike has more Fluxatory Compliance, or better shifting, or x% more aero (there must be some combination of equipment out there where the claimed %age aero improvements mean the bicycle should be sucked along by a self-created draft of air, no pedalling needed!). Of course, they are already free to do this now - nothing stops them selling you a non-UCI-approved machine, but for someone reason many MAMILs insist on UCI-approval, despite overwhelmingly not racing themselves (living the dream I guess)!
On another topic: I was chatting to someone high in engineering at a major equipment maker. They think the (MTB borrowed) 135mm standard for rear-disc hubs on road bikes doesn't make sense. It leads to clearance issues on short-chainstay, race-geometry bikes. They think a road-specific standard would make more sense.
So, watch out when you're buying road 135mm-rear discs. That might not last long as a "standard".
Which is a problem with the Disc Tarmac I mentioned - they've offset the hub to fit everything into a 10mm too short chainstay and you're locked into buying Specialized's own wheels for ever. They'll be loving the prospect I'm sure, but anyone who buys one has lost their damn mind.
what, miss an opportunity?
What's the lightest road disc build we've seen so far? There's that S-Works Tarmac that comes in at 6.9 for the top line £8k spec - If they drop the weight limit significantly and give teams the option of brakes, it'll be curious to see who chooses what.
Not sure, but a high end, off the shelf, Storck Aernario Disc is quoted as 6.3kg.
Indeed, especially interested in how the neutral service vehicle setup is going to work if there's a split usage in the peloton. I'd hazard a guess that weight itself won't make a big difference * but aerodynamics, as mentioned previously, might in the right situation.. but that's all that it is, a guess.
* Unless the limit is reduced to silly numbers and, even then, i'm not so sure.
Having conducted a scientific (not really) review of crashes during races, it is difficult to identify (m)any instances were shorter braking distances would have changed the outcome.
There seem to be two main causes of racing crashes:
1- high speed pile up. There is no distance for stopping, whatever the brake set up. Riders are often ejected over their bars.
2- tyres lose grip. Dusty roundabout, wet descent, take your pick but it's lack of grip, not lack of stopping power. Perhaps a leap in tyre technology or wings to create downforce would help, not better brakes.
I'm sure there are some instances were slightly slower stopping distances or improved modulation would help but if you are barrelling along at 40kph 20cm from the rear wheel of the chap in front there is no way of stopping a bike and keeping the rider seated if disaster strikes.
Given the effort that has been going into producing aero bikes, it's hard to see the pro teams strapping two dinner plates to their hubs. It must cost a minute over 40km so a rider with discs is going to find a breakaway hampered. If the UCI reduces the minimum weight of bikes, we may even see some teams jettisoning weight from their brakes and going for a more spindly caliper, especially for mountain stages.
I agreed with you Scrufftie until I got to your final paragraph.
I see the aero advantage eventually being with disc brakes: rim design will no longer be hampered by needing to include a section with parallel faces to allow for braking and I think the toroidal cross section of aero wheels is likely to improve over what is currently available.
Weight might also drop as there will be no need to allow for a safety margin in the wearing surface.
Those 'dinner plates' may have some slight aero effect in a crosswind but head on they are pretty much neutral: also they are in the wheel centre so have less affect on handling than a similar area at the rim.
Disc calipers will probably also be designed with more aero consideration.
I don't see why a 'spindly' caliper (do you mean rim or disc?) would be adopted for the mountain stages: for the pros even most days ending at a summit have some technical descending before the finish where a manufacturer would not want to expose itself to risk of litigation, before you even consider the risks involved in selling 'spindly' calipers on the open (MAMIL) market...
preetty chuffed about this, while it is possible now to biy a bike with disc brakes, the options for replacement wheels are not there yet. Now disc brakes will become dominant I expect a lot more choice in disc compatible wheels.
discs are fundamentally a lot easier to replace when worn than rims are. The also work better in the wet, and are less susceptible to damage from grit and gravel.
I see no upside to rim brakes, other than aesthetics. Form should follow function, but the traditionalists are all about style over substance.
Cable or hydraulic?
Disc brakes is easy - wait to the argument about through-axles vs QRs - particularly 10mm vs 12mm vs 15mm vs 20mm
I believe monty has hit the nail on the head. This will be where the UCI are focusing their energy once they get over the "shall we" of disc brakes. Whatever format is chosen (and only one will be able to be chosen for wheel support reasons) it will make the other format's bystanders....
(wouldn't the industry love that! - they get to sell disc brake bikes twice)
....unless we see some devil incarnate where 2017 is QR wheels and 2020 becomes 12mm
Although the same could be said for BBs where there are still many variations and no standard.
I just laughed that there's a saddle 'committee'. Oh to be a fly on the wall at THEIR meetings.
I do remember my first race on dual pivot brakes; the ability to brake later seemed a great wonder at the time, then it was made abundantly clear that it had absolutely no advantage at all in the real world.
the ability to do the same braking more predictably with less effort makes those twisty mendip descents more fun, i'll tell you that. i'm going to call that an advantage
Truth is that cycling is one of the few sports where spectators can essentially have the same tech as the people they admire and watch.
F1 fans don't watch a race then get into their F1 car to drive home the scenic route in...
Rim brakes are ok.
Disc brakes are better.
Carbon is the go-to frame material now but there's still a place for steel, alluminium and ti.
Choice.
We all have it, the pro's don't- well, at the moment.
It'll make the sport, in terms of watching racing, much more progressive and go to a whole new level, which can surely only be a good thing.
They don't still hit the ball in golf with a length of stick.
They don't kick a pigs bladder in football.
They don't race F1 in 1.5L engined cars.
Time and technology moves on...
Or are you all still using toe clips and straps out there...?
Hula Boy - you're right they don't race F1 in 1.5L cars but 1.6L so you were close.
FIA TECHNICAL REGULATIONS
ARTICLE 5 : POWER UNIT 5.1 Engine specification :
5.1.2 Engine cubic capacity must be 1600cc (+0/-10cc).
It is very much a personal view of course. Just like I love electronic gears and others think they are a waste.
Inevitable the peloton would get them and likely that of course all the teams will adapt to them.
Interesting to see about the weight limit, sensible to bring down the weight really.
...Ummmm, no.
People might want to think they are riding a race bike, but not many people 'occasionally' enter a road race because it's hard and requires a considerable amount of training and commitment.
On my ride on Sunday I had this discussion with a group I was riding with and no one was going to get discs. Of course the industry needs to sell them ...
Especially when for the road there is really no benefit.
whereas on my ride on sunday two out of four of us had discs and were loving them, especially on steep and twisty mendip descents.
However have you not seen the benefit of them with out having to stump up the cash to see what they're like first?
It's not like we're all industry journo's will an opportunity to see what the benefits are on a test bike, it involves parting with a serious sum of cash. Surely you must understand peoples skepticism on having to get a new frame/wheels/50% of a gruppo to see these benefits some of the industry keeps going on about.
..but you don't have to go and buy them. You can if you want to, but rim brakes are still fine and haven't stopped working, and as discs become more common we should all get more choice and hopefully more affordable choices at that. You could even go and test ride them should you wish..
Controversially, people could actually trust at least some of the increasingly large section of the cycling press, and others, that is reviewing them favourably instead of sticking to the "I don't see the benefit so it can't exist" frame of mind - the cycling industry has money and influence but I highly doubt it's subverting everyone...
Mmm, like they've never become the dominant type of brake on any other bike, eh ?
There's a reason they're ubiquitous on mtbs, they work consistently, crap weather or not (not to mention mud).
so you think it's impossible for me to make any kind of value judgement without spending my own money? you probably shouldn't waste your time reading the cycling press if you think that's the case. because they're always going to send us the bikes for free.
bottom line: very few people (read: no-one) will be doing what you describe. but lots of people will be buying a new bike, because we like buying new bikes, don't we. that's the point at which you'd decide to go down the disc route, if you think it's for you. the last bike i bought was the tripster atr that i tested, which has discs. but the next bike i'll buy is quite likely to be a genesis flyer, which doesn't. rim brakes aren't dead, and no-one's saying they are.
Strange that so many reviews i've read reckon there are - perhaps they're all on the take from the 'industry [that] needs to sell them' ?
Oh and personal experience of hydraulic disc and rim on the road of course - I know which i'd like to have even though the rim brakes are pretty useful in the dry (Ultegra 6800). Aesthetically i'm not always a fan of discs but they do work rather well...
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