Disc Brake Rotor Cut to the Bone During Katie Compton CX crash
#51
Senior Member
Before getting into road cycling, I rode motocross for years. We had exposed disc rotors and I don’t remember anyone ever getting sliced in a crash. Lots of people used rotor guards not to spare someone getting sliced, but to keep their rotors from getting bent.
I don’t doubt that a rotor could slice, but I think the likelihood is much smaller than many are believing.
I don’t doubt that a rotor could slice, but I think the likelihood is much smaller than many are believing.
#52
Senior Member
Before getting into road cycling, I rode motocross for years. We had exposed disc rotors and I don’t remember anyone ever getting sliced in a crash. Lots of people used rotor guards not to spare someone getting sliced, but to keep their rotors from getting bent.
I don’t doubt that a rotor could slice, but I think the likelihood is much smaller than many are believing.
I don’t doubt that a rotor could slice, but I think the likelihood is much smaller than many are believing.
#54
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Location: San Diego, California
Posts: 4,077
Bikes: Velo Orange Piolet
Mentioned: 28 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2228 Post(s)
Liked 2,011 Times
in
972 Posts
It seems to me the problem isn't that the edges are sharp,
it's that they're scalloped.
Like they're trying to make it as deadly as possible. Why don't they just make them round like they do in cars and motorcycles?
it's that they're scalloped.
Like they're trying to make it as deadly as possible. Why don't they just make them round like they do in cars and motorcycles?
#55
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 23,208
Mentioned: 89 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18883 Post(s)
Liked 10,646 Times
in
6,054 Posts
I'm not a fan of disc brakes on road or CX bikes, especially for competition, but my concern is less about safety than about other considerations.
In any case, I don't understand why disc advocates and users don't at least demand some effort at making them safer. It's technically not difficult (though it would add slightly to cost) to improve safety by turning a semicircular edge on the discs. They'll still be thin, but at least they won't be razor sharp.
So, to the true believers, DEMAND that some (minimal) effort is made to address this safety issue.
In any case, I don't understand why disc advocates and users don't at least demand some effort at making them safer. It's technically not difficult (though it would add slightly to cost) to improve safety by turning a semicircular edge on the discs. They'll still be thin, but at least they won't be razor sharp.
So, to the true believers, DEMAND that some (minimal) effort is made to address this safety issue.
Those are actual not perceived safety issues. That's why they've received attention.
#56
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 23,208
Mentioned: 89 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18883 Post(s)
Liked 10,646 Times
in
6,054 Posts
This disc brake menace is a lot like the Big Four Ice Caves.
We have a local mountain called Big Four, because in the winter time a snow field forms in the shape of the number 4. (We have a lot of mountains here, eventually you run out of creative names and resort to stuff like this.)
At the base of Big Four Mountain is a glacier with an ice cave. People ignore warning signs and go inside. A total of 4 people have died this way in the last 100 years. Locals want a fence erected, the caves bombed to smithereens, etc. People feel like those caves are more dangerous than a sharknado, just like disc rotors.
It's a fact that in the last decade more people have died from drowning in their bathtub than from disc brake rotor cuts and Ice Cave collapses combined. More people have died from bench press accidents than from both causes together. Nobody wants to ban water and exercise.
We have a local mountain called Big Four, because in the winter time a snow field forms in the shape of the number 4. (We have a lot of mountains here, eventually you run out of creative names and resort to stuff like this.)
At the base of Big Four Mountain is a glacier with an ice cave. People ignore warning signs and go inside. A total of 4 people have died this way in the last 100 years. Locals want a fence erected, the caves bombed to smithereens, etc. People feel like those caves are more dangerous than a sharknado, just like disc rotors.
It's a fact that in the last decade more people have died from drowning in their bathtub than from disc brake rotor cuts and Ice Cave collapses combined. More people have died from bench press accidents than from both causes together. Nobody wants to ban water and exercise.
#57
Senior Member
Thread Starter
Join Date: Sep 2011
Posts: 4,764
Mentioned: 28 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1975 Post(s)
Liked 232 Times
in
173 Posts
This disc brake menace is a lot like the Big Four Ice Caves.
We have a local mountain called Big Four, because in the winter time a snow field forms in the shape of the number 4. (We have a lot of mountains here, eventually you run out of creative names and resort to stuff like this.)
At the base of Big Four Mountain is a glacier with an ice cave. People ignore warning signs and go inside. A total of 4 people have died this way in the last 100 years. Locals want a fence erected, the caves bombed to smithereens, etc. People feel like those caves are more dangerous than a sharknado, just like disc rotors.
It's a fact that in the last decade more people have died from drowning in their bathtub than from disc brake rotor cuts and Ice Cave collapses combined. More people have died from bench press accidents than from both causes together. Nobody wants to ban water and exercise.
We have a local mountain called Big Four, because in the winter time a snow field forms in the shape of the number 4. (We have a lot of mountains here, eventually you run out of creative names and resort to stuff like this.)
At the base of Big Four Mountain is a glacier with an ice cave. People ignore warning signs and go inside. A total of 4 people have died this way in the last 100 years. Locals want a fence erected, the caves bombed to smithereens, etc. People feel like those caves are more dangerous than a sharknado, just like disc rotors.
It's a fact that in the last decade more people have died from drowning in their bathtub than from disc brake rotor cuts and Ice Cave collapses combined. More people have died from bench press accidents than from both causes together. Nobody wants to ban water and exercise.
But Compton’s injury hasn’t changed her favorable opinion on disc brakes. “I like disc brakes and find that the injuries incurred aren’t that bad in the whole scheme of things,” she said. “Broken bones and road rash hurt way more. At least the cuts are clean and can be sewed up easily enough.”
#58
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TC, MN
Posts: 39,516
Bikes: R3 Disc, Haanjo
Mentioned: 354 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 20808 Post(s)
Liked 9,450 Times
in
4,668 Posts
Who - the guy that went under a fence and claimed that a rotor sliced through his shoe? If so, there's quite a lot of reason to believe that it didn't happen as he'd claimed.
#59
Senior Member
I think Doull was the shoe one. There was another racer, but I don't think he was pro.
I guess I want film showing/proving it can happen. Because crashes are often a split second, the mind plays games, and a spinning metal disc can look fearsome without actually being dangerous.
I guess I want film showing/proving it can happen. Because crashes are often a split second, the mind plays games, and a spinning metal disc can look fearsome without actually being dangerous.
#60
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 23,208
Mentioned: 89 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18883 Post(s)
Liked 10,646 Times
in
6,054 Posts
I mean, its not exactly like that. No one was saying the ice caves never collapse, anyone with a half a brain new there was some risk involved. But go back to the previous thread when a pro claimed to have been cut by a rotor and there were plenty of those adamant it wasn't possible. The main reason I posted was to see the reactions honestly. I've been riding disc brake bikes for over 5 years, and currently own more disc brake bikes than rim brake bikes, and I'm certainly not going out to replace all my rotors on my 6 sets of wheels with "safer" rounded ones, but we've had disc brakes for over 10 years and just this year has SRAM added significant rounding/chamfering to their disc brakes. Only shimano's newest high end rotors too. There is room for discs in everyday and mass start events if people are willing to acknowledge there is a small increase in risk in certain circumstances, and manufacturers minimize this risk in a cost effective manner going forward. Summed up nicely
#61
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2009
Location: PHL
Posts: 9,948
Bikes: Litespeed Catalyst, IRO Rob Roy, All City Big Block
Mentioned: 19 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1332 Post(s)
Liked 398 Times
in
194 Posts
So there's basically three camps here:
1- Disc rotors can't cut like that
2- Literally any part of a bike can cut like that
3- I did a different sport
1- Disc rotors can't cut like that
2- Literally any part of a bike can cut like that
3- I did a different sport
#62
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 15,481
Bikes: 2015 Workswell 066, 2017 Workswell 093, 2014 Dawes Sheila, 1983 Cannondale 500, 1984 Raleigh Olympian, 2007 Cannondale Rize 4, 2017 Fuji Sportif 1 LE
Mentioned: 144 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7649 Post(s)
Liked 3,465 Times
in
1,831 Posts
Actually, this is true. Skin can and will split .... I split a knee wide open once. No tear in the pants, inch-and-a half long, quarter-inch-wide, quarter-inch deep opening in the flesh. Flesh can split like a sausage skin.
Someone mentioned boxers ... obviously boxers are not getting "cut" by a pound of padded glove ... forget a two-millimeter edge, a boxing glove impacts over like a square foot ... but we have all seen boxers get "cut."
You missed the folks who say stupid stuff like .... "I have discs but don't ride in a tight pack at dangerous speeds with packs of riders all using discs so it is a non-issue."
Or the fools who say, "Yes, discs can be an added risk but not significant for most riders. (Equally, they don't really offer much performance improvement for most riders ....)"
And what about the lame-brains who say stuff like "Too many credible stories have been told by too many people with no agenda, so that at this point only people with a strong agenda (read: unwillingness to face facts) can continue to deny that discs Sometimes cut riders ... but so far the incidence seems very low."
Yeah .... lots of those folks out there ... what can you do?
#64
Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Wadsworth, IL
Posts: 466
Bikes: Motobecane Vent Noir, Specialized Crux, Specialized Carve
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 14 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 2 Times
in
2 Posts
Not that I find rotors scary, but wouldn't a cover make a lot of sense to prevent any sort of claim that they're dangerous? I bet manufactures could make some pretty sweet aero carbon covers that weigh almost nothing?
Realistically, the chainrings scare me a ton more than the rotors. Imagine getting you hand caught between a chain and a chainring.
Realistically, the chainrings scare me a ton more than the rotors. Imagine getting you hand caught between a chain and a chainring.
#65
Senior Member
Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: Seattle, WA
Posts: 23,208
Mentioned: 89 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 18883 Post(s)
Liked 10,646 Times
in
6,054 Posts
I've been riding disc brakes for years. Nobody ever promised me the rotors won't cut me, or gain sentience and overthrow humanity. I just thought about it for a few seconds and decided it was worth taking my chances.
#66
Senior Member
#67
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 15,481
Bikes: 2015 Workswell 066, 2017 Workswell 093, 2014 Dawes Sheila, 1983 Cannondale 500, 1984 Raleigh Olympian, 2007 Cannondale Rize 4, 2017 Fuji Sportif 1 LE
Mentioned: 144 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7649 Post(s)
Liked 3,465 Times
in
1,831 Posts
#68
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: TC, MN
Posts: 39,516
Bikes: R3 Disc, Haanjo
Mentioned: 354 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 20808 Post(s)
Liked 9,450 Times
in
4,668 Posts
#69
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: In the foothills of Los Angeles County
Posts: 25,255
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8262 Post(s)
Liked 8,998 Times
in
4,456 Posts
#70
Senior Member
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: In the foothills of Los Angeles County
Posts: 25,255
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 8262 Post(s)
Liked 8,998 Times
in
4,456 Posts
The theory is that when the pads pass over the open part of the edge it helps get rid of heat.
#74
Senior Member
Join Date: Oct 2015
Posts: 15,481
Bikes: 2015 Workswell 066, 2017 Workswell 093, 2014 Dawes Sheila, 1983 Cannondale 500, 1984 Raleigh Olympian, 2007 Cannondale Rize 4, 2017 Fuji Sportif 1 LE
Mentioned: 144 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 7649 Post(s)
Liked 3,465 Times
in
1,831 Posts
LOL ... I am thinking of the original Chevy Vega with its aluminum engine block which had a habit of melting itself.