Another pro rider injured by disc brakes - are disc brakes really dangerous?

The rollout of disc brakes in the professional peloton has been anything but smooth, with Fran Ventoso famously reporting an injury from a disc brake in Paris-Roubaix back in April which led to the UCI swiftly halting its trial of disc brakes. 

Now Orica BikeExchange's Sam Bewley also claims to have suffered an injury from a disc brake, sharing a photo of on Twitter that appears to show a burn or scrape that he says is the result of a hot rotor touching his skin. 

This is what happens when a hot disc brake lands on skin. Imagine a bunch crash on the road with multiple hot rotors pic.twitter.com/9ztivJAvZ3

— SamBewley (@SamBewley) October 4, 2016

- UCI officially suspends disc brake testing

Will this deal another blow to disc brakes being adopted in the professional peloton? The issue of safety has been at the forefront of concerns especially amongst the professional racers, who much use this new equipment, and it seems like many aren’t really in favour.

We don’t know any more details about the incident involving Sam and a hot disc rotor, but we’ve contacted him so hopefully we might be able to shed a bit more light on the matter.

- Have disc brakes really led to injuries in peloton?

The latest on the UCI disc brake trial is that it’s currently suspended, following the drama after the Paris-Roubaix incident, and there has been no update as to whether it might commence soon. We’ve heard rumours that it will be restarted in 2017. We’ve contacted the UCI for a comment on this latest incident and an update on its trial suspension.

It’s clear the industry is behind disc brakes, with most big bike brands now offering disc-equipped road bikes, and the technology is advancing rapidly and we’ve even reached a point where there appear to be common standards. 160mm rotors, flat mount and 12mm thru-axles being dominant on all new disc road bike releases. 

Meanwhile, Andre Greipel appears to be happily testing Campagnolo's new disc brakes at the moment, without crashing...

Testing the future of @campagnolosrl cycling components #discbrakes #eps @Ridley_Bikes #campytechlab @continentaltire @srmtraining pic.twitter.com/ccUvGSgRSF

— Andre Greipel (@AndreGreipel) October 5, 2016

Are disc brakes really dangerous? What do you think?