- Disc brakes have been a huge source of controversy
and debate in the Pro Peloton and in cycling media.
But what better place to get the actual opinion
on whether or not they should be used
in the race than the Pro Peloton,
and what better place to ask the question
than stage one of the 2017 Giro d'Italia?
(mellow electronic music)
- Uh...
- Wow!
- [Host] After speaking with a couple of the riders
it was clear that actually many of them
had a neutral opinion about disc brakes.
They had questions about safety
but some were familiar with disc brakes
and had ridden them in training, if not in racing.
- So what do you think of disc brakes in the Pro Peloton?
- I think in the future we'll be good if,
if the rules are clear and,
if everyone is on the same side,
I think that's the most important,
and then also you never know if UCI calls it back or not,
and then maybe you're training on the disc brakes
and you have to switch again, so
that's what I mean with the rules,
like if they are clear that the disc brakes are there,
yeah, then I think also the safety should be okay,
but I think braking-wise it's always gonna be
better than normal brakes.
- And what are your opinion, what's your opinion
on disc brakes in the Peloton?
- Uh, I don't have really an opinion about it,
I just see and, if we are obliged to ride with it
that's okay, and if not that's not, and we'll see.
- And have you ever ridden a bike with,
a road bike with disc brakes yourself?
- No, no, never tried, no.
- Would you like to?
- Not now. - (laughs)
- I think when you make them safe
it's a lot better braking power, you know,
I used to race disc brakes on my gravel bikes,
so to me I think at the entry we'll use disc brakes.
I hope they can make the bikes 6.8 kilos with it,
because I'm a weight weenie too, but that's something
up to the frame builders and Shimano itself.
- [Host] As you've heard, the riders
in the Pro Peloton didn't really doubt
that disc brakes do offer better braking than rim brakes,
although safety concerns remained,
especially regarding the cut to Owain Doull's shoe
at the Abu Dhabi tour, an incident which
at the time Doull put down to a disc brake.
- Honestly, there's been a lot of confusion
because we didn't understand yet
if the shoes was cut by this brake or not.
So I think we should do, having a longer testing period,
but testing means out of competition
testing, not in the Peloton.
I don't feel comfortable when I see
disc brakes in the Peloton in the moment.
Maybe I'm wrong.
I would like to have some, like some sure,
some sure tests made to be sure that they are safe.
- [Host] Caley Fretz, our very good friend at VeloNews,
who you may recognise from a few GCN tech videos,
actually put this to the test after the event.
- There you have it: has trouble cutting a shoe.
Has trouble cutting a saddle, a leather saddle.
Has no trouble with cardboard.
- You two I think are the only riders
at this year's Giro racing discs.
So can you tell us why that is?
Or, at the first stage of this year's Giro racing discs.
- Well, I think for me it's just the feeling
of the bike, the bike is much stiffer.
Braking is always good, just, yeah,
I mean it's just the bike that feels good
and that's the main reason.
There's no proof that any incident actually happened
because of any, because of the disc brakes
and I believe that it's also the future of cycling,
I mean, it's something that's coming up more and more
and it's a very interesting technology
and I think of course there's always,
when there's something new there's always
controversy about it, so I think it's a normal thing.
- The biggest difference is in the rain,
so that's where it really makes a difference
and the last few Giros I did was always a lot of rain
so I think that could make a difference in a wet stage.
- For me personally I think, I think it's the same
for the other guys, we don't really feel it's necessary.
Me personally I don't feel like it's a necessary...
It's gonna, already with the weight of the bike,
like we have a disc brake bike here and it's,
it's 700g heavier than this bike so,
there are advantages and disadvantages
but I think for the moment, I think we're fine
with the brakes the way they are, and,
maybe in the future we will have to change
eventually, I'm sure, but for the moment
the guys are happy the way it is.
These brakes are perfectly adequate,
I think, for what we do, but again I guess
the bike industry wants to move forward,
sell more bikes, I think, so, yeah.
- I imagine the difference between those brakes
and the brakes that you rode when you first
started cycling is perhaps greater than
the difference between disc brakes and those brakes.
- I think so, yeah, I mean
I started off with aluminum wheels
which were quite nice and I've even rode
carbon clinchers, which were a bit terrifying at times,
but I think the combination we have here at the moment
is perfectly adequate for what we do.
- We're doing a video about disc brakes
in the Pro Peloton and we know that you
use them a lot when you're out training.
What do you think, what's your take on using them at races?
- I don't know, certainly for training they're amazing.
It's kinda strange going back to the rim brakes.
But, yeah, I don't know, we'll see.
I'd like to see some guards on 'em though.
- Do you have to adapt your descending technique
from disc brakes back to rim brakes then?
- A little bit, but, you know,
I don't know if you know this but
we're professionals so, you know,
we're capable of adapting. (laughs)
- What about the riders who are
opposed to using disc brakes then?
Well, from a very small sample of the Peloton,
there weren't too many of them who were
ultimately opposed to disc brakes,
and those that did just kind of felt
they didn't need them right now.
One thing that really surprised us
was that none of the riders we spoke to
raised the issue of slower wheel changes
if they were using disc brakes.
Now this is an issue that many wheel manufacturers,
frame manufacturers, and disc brake manufacturers
are presumably looking to solve.
It's something that Mavic really got the ball,
or the wheel, rolling with at Eurobike in 2016.
Personally what I found the most fascinating
about the responses that we got
from the Pro Peloton was just how neutral
many of the riders were towards disc brakes.
Let us know what you think though down in the comments,
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If you'd like to see us put disc brakes
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and to see all of our videos from the 2017
Giro d'Italia, click down there.