Discs coming out

[VamP]

So while disc braked bikes are rarer than hen's teeth in senior league competition, with one or two Boardman CX's bringing up the rear of the field now and again, in the Youth category disc braked bikes are becoming a more regular occurrence, even scoring placings here and there. See here.

Why are Youth riders keener to embrace new technology? Discuss.

 

[VamP]

Second place in Eastern League Seniors went to a rather yum looking Hope prototype with disc brakes. Mind you, the course in Baldock hardly required brakes at all.

 

[Drago]

Perhaps when disc braked bikes start winning a few events then people may take notice.

 

[black'n'yellow]

Why are Youth riders keener to embrace new technology? Discuss.

Possibly something to do with being sponsored by a bike company that only makes disk-equipped CX bikes...?? I'd ride one too, if I didn't have to buy one and bin all my existing wheels...

Perhaps when disc braked bikes start winning a few events then people may take notice.

unlikely - most CX racers are wise enough to realise that brakes don't make you faster...

 

[VamP]

Possibly something to do with being sponsored by a bike company that only makes disk-equipped CX bikes...?? I'd ride one too, if I didn't have to buy one two and bin all my existing wheels...



unlikely - most CX racers are wise enough to realise that brakes don't make you faster...

FTFY

My position is the same BTW.

As to your second point, I think there is a case to be made for certain courses and certain conditions - Round 2 of this year's London League springs to mind - where disc brakes are a distinct advantage, to the extent that a lad who normally gets top twenty finishes and occasionally scrapes the top ten came second on his MTB (he normally rides a Crux). But 99% of the time you are right.

The guy on the Hope prototype is clearly sponsored, but a lot of the youth riders appear to be just early adopters - I guess, especially if parents are footing the bill, it makes sense that they would be. I wonder if this trend will accelerate if people like Sven Nys start winning on discs.

 

[black'n'yellow]

Re the fix - you're quite right..

no question though - if i was in the market for a new CX bike now, I would almost certainly be looking for a disk bike. But I'm not, and from an 'average' competitor's point of view, do I want to invest that heavily in a sport which I only ride for 3-4 months of the year when there's no road racing on - and furthermore, do I want to invest that heavily in something that gives me little or no competitive advantage?

Re the MTB thing - it might just be that the course or conditions favoured MTBs. We had exactly the same thing on Sunday - a guy on an MTB won the senior event - but the course was extremely choppy and probably favoured MTBs anyway....

 

[VamP]

Re the fix - you're quite right..

no question though - if i was in the market for a new CX bike now, I would almost certainly be looking for a disk bike. But I'm not, and from an 'average' competitor's point of view, do I want to invest that heavily in a sport which I only ride for 3-4 months of the year when there's no road racing on - and furthermore, do I want to invest that heavily in something that gives me little or no competitive advantage?

Re the MTB thing - it might just be that the course or conditions favoured MTBs. We had exactly the same thing on Sunday - a guy on an MTB won the senior event - but the course was extremely choppy and probably favoured MTBs anyway....

In this instance there was a significant amount of high speed descending, very muddy, and with sharp corners at the bottom of the hills and disc brakes were definitely the key factor. Otherwise it was a classic cross course and with a significant amount of climbing, the MTB itself was not an advantage. Gritty mud killed brake pads, I had virtually no brakes for the second half of the race. I also rode the Eastern league race on exactly the same course the previous day, but in bone dry conditions, and braking was not an issue then, and everyone rode cross bikes.