- News
- Reviews
- Bikes
- Accessories
- Accessories - misc
- Computer mounts
- Bags
- Bar ends
- Bike bags & cases
- Bottle cages
- Bottles
- Cameras
- Car racks
- Child seats
- Computers
- Glasses
- GPS units
- Helmets
- Lights - front
- Lights - rear
- Lights - sets
- Locks
- Mirrors
- Mudguards
- Racks
- Pumps & CO2 inflators
- Puncture kits
- Reflectives
- Smart watches
- Stands and racks
- Trailers
- Clothing
- Components
- Bar tape & grips
- Bottom brackets
- Brake & gear cables
- Brake & STI levers
- Brake pads & spares
- Brakes
- Cassettes & freewheels
- Chains
- Chainsets & chainrings
- Derailleurs - front
- Derailleurs - rear
- Forks
- Gear levers & shifters
- Groupsets
- Handlebars & extensions
- Headsets
- Hubs
- Inner tubes
- Pedals
- Quick releases & skewers
- Saddles
- Seatposts
- Stems
- Wheels
- Tyres
- Health, fitness and nutrition
- Tools and workshop
- Miscellaneous
- Buyers Guides
- Features
- Forum
- Recommends
- Podcast
TECH NEWS
specialized tarmac disc (2)Disc brakes to appear in pro peloton this year
The UCI, has confirmed that hydrualic disc brakes will make their first appearance in the professional peloton this year under an experimental programme announced today by cycling governing body the UCI and the World Federation of Sporting Goods Industries (WFSGI) ahead of an anticipated full roll-out in 2017.
That schedule tallies with road.cc's exclusive report last month detailing discussions between the UCI and the WFSGI.
"The aim is to eventually introduce disc brakes to all levels of road cycling," the two organisations said in a joint statement
The process will start during August and September of this year when all teams will be able to use bikes with disc brakes during two events.
Testing will continue in 2016 at all events on the UCI professional road calendar and, if the experience is satisfactory, disc brakes will be officially introduced to the UCI WorldTour in 2017.
UCI president Brian Cookson said: “Although disc brakes have been used for around a decade in mountain biking and for the last two years in cyclo-cross, their introduction to road cycling must be carefully studied in collaboration with all those who are directly concerned.
"That includes riders, teams and manufacturers. This step is part of the UCI’s desire to encourage innovation in order to ensure cycling is even more attractive for spectators, riders, bike users and broadcasters.”
WFSGI Secretary General Robbert de Kock said: “The industry is delighted by this news and also thanks the UCI for the very positive collaboration.
"This decision will further develop innovation and create new possibilities for the bicycle industry as well as additional performance for the riders.
"There is still some fine tuning to do on detailed requirements for the procedure, but it is very exciting to finally have reached this decision.
"The remaining open topics such as neutral race support or the UCI and Teams protocol will be tackled soon,”
John has been writing about bikes and cycling for over 30 years since discovering that people were mug enough to pay him for it rather than expecting him to do an honest day's work.
He was heavily involved in the mountain bike boom of the late 1980s as a racer, team manager and race promoter, and that led to writing for Mountain Biking UK magazine shortly after its inception. He got the gig by phoning up the editor and telling him the magazine was rubbish and he could do better. Rather than telling him to get lost, MBUK editor Tym Manley called John’s bluff and the rest is history.
Since then he has worked on MTB Pro magazine and was editor of Maximum Mountain Bike and Australian Mountain Bike magazines, before switching to the web in 2000 to work for CyclingNews.com. Along with road.cc founder Tony Farrelly, John was on the launch team for BikeRadar.com and subsequently became editor in chief of Future Publishing’s group of cycling magazines and websites, including Cycling Plus, MBUK, What Mountain Bike and Procycling.
John has also written for Cyclist magazine, edited the BikeMagic website and was founding editor of TotalWomensCycling.com before handing over to someone far more representative of the site's main audience.
He joined road.cc in 2013. He lives in Cambridge where the lack of hills is more than made up for by the headwinds.
Latest Comments
- ktache 0 sec ago
Then thank you to the mysterious advice giver.
- andystow 2 min 46 sec ago
I feel like there's a pretty wide range of tolerance (for me at least) on saddle height. I've made no effort to set my bikes up identically, and...
- Fergus_O'Hara 15 min 47 sec ago
We all know about bad stories from Hell frauds but tbh I like them. For the price you can't get a comparable bike from anywhere else....
- hawkinspeter 25 min 44 sec ago
"Meet me in the middle," says the unjust man. You take a step towards him, he takes a step back. "Meet me in the middle," says the unjust man.
- hawkinspeter 29 min 40 sec ago
That's definitely true, but we have a major problem when politicians throw their weight behind keeping things car oriented. There's also the...
- stonojnr 36 min 54 sec ago
to be disenfranchised means not having the right to vote or having that right taken away, it doesnt mean if you cant remember where your passport...
- John Fernando 1 hour 49 min ago
In light of these findings, it's imperative for local authorities to heed the call for investment in high-quality cycling facilities. By doing so,...
- casati53x11 2 hours 27 min ago
Many thanks. Yes I already looked at their website and saw those. Apparently the wide ones are for direct mount or aero brakes. The ones I need are...
- mattw 3 hours 52 min ago
I've ordered one of these as a quick and easy solution number 1....
Add new comment
52 comments
Like crashes don't happen at the moment with everyone on the same brakes.
FFS, not yet another disc brake thread.
Have them if you want them, don't if you don't but please, for the love of God shut up about them.
People are interested in talking about them and it's a free world. Maybe you should not bother posting if you can't make a useful addition to the debate?
Well I've just fitted some Swiss Stop brake blocks and believe that these jobbies will soon make disc brakes obsolete !
The choice is yours to use them or not so stop bloody moaning whingers.....
I have discs on my daily BMC Granfondo and stopping is great rather than hazardous. I even managed to ride twenty miles with a bad buckle after the drinks bottle went through the spokes. Not something I could have done with rim brakes
So far the rims are going strong and will never wear out due to brake contact.
"Disc the way to go" or should that be stop!
I stand corrected, thanks for the info.
I do think this is a bit draconian for Under 12s. Fair enough for Youth categories. There are loads of UCI rules that are ignored at local level so banning disc brakes seems a bit overkill.
I presume that if the uci decide that discs can be used they will not be compulsory! So we can still choose one way or another.
After a winter of again wondering if I am going to be able to stop for that downhill junction rapid approaching, my next steed with discs cannot come soon enough! I'm sold already.
Looks like a thru axle.
More importantly - what are those skewers? They look rather funky.
Just when they finally get round to getting rid of the ludicrous weight limit, the poor old Pros will have to drag around disc brakes now. I presume sales are slowing down in the industry.
Not sure if that comment was meant to be tongue in cheek, but just in case it wasn't...
Yes disc brakes are heavier, but at what point will people stop focusing on the brakes themselves and start seeing what having disc brakes does in terms of freeing up frame and wheel design. The new Giant Defy is the lightest road frame they have ever produced, and the most comfortable, thanks in part to super slim seat stays which are only possible due to not mounting a brake on them (and yes, I know you could mount the brake under the BB but that's just a pain when it comes to the constant maintenance you have with rim brakes).
As for rims, nothing has happened much yet in the road world but on mountain bikes the lack of need for a braking surface on the rim meant rims became lighter, so overall wheel weight is the same whether with discs or without, but with discs the weight is concentrated more in the middle, which means the wheels feel lighter when ridden. Don't just expect this on road bikes but also some interesting aero developments as the need to have flat parallel braking surfaces goes and the whole rim can be curved however you like it to help to improve air flow.
And finally on rims, why pay £1000+ on something that you then proceed to wear through? Disc brakes mean you never wear through rims and so wheels last decades (assuming you maintain the bearings well).
out of interest, does this mean that ALL riders in the test events will be on discs or that some riders will be using calipers whilst others are on discs?
From a logistics point of view I can see no way you can have 2016 all riders in ALL categories on calipers and in 2017 ALL riders on discs. At the top where the money is maybe, but the lower you go the less money and the less frequent bike replacement.
They're experimental in certain races from the end of August for pro teams.
Once ratified by the UCI, they will be allowed in domestic races - ratification is expected in 2017 so the info you had was correct. Disc brakes are still not allowed in domestic events.
The UCI press release says:
“if the experience is satisfactory, disc brakes will be officially introduced to the UCI WorldTour in 2017. The aim is to eventually introduce disc brakes to all levels of road cycling.”
So don't do what seanbolton suggests because they're not allowed.
I doubt a 10 year old will be prevented from taking part in a Under 12s road event because of disc brakes. Children ride all sorts of bikes in U12s races.
Unfortunately, you are wrong on this. Just last month the British Cycling Events Team stated that disc brakes were not allowed in any road or closed circuit event - from under 8 up.
https://www.britishcycling.org.uk/scotland/article/20150324-scottish-sta...
I guess Campag's system is more than ready then.........
Where will it all end? I always thought that derailleur gears were the thin end of the wedge.
next they will be allowing downtube engines.
This really f£cks me off! Our bikes got nicked and I bought a cyclocross with discs for my 10yr old to compete cross and road, only to be told UCI wouldn't ratify Discs till 2017. So I bought ANOTHER bike for him to race on the road. Now they're experimental!!!
Your 10yr old's probably going to need a new bike by 2017 anyway because of growing.
But what if the discs are possessed with evil spirits!? They'll take over and destroy the world! We'll all be DOOMED!!! 〜((-.-))〜
Pages