Would really love to see if video shows Doull was anywhere near Kittel's bike when he went down. The video on cycling news doesn't show much. If that was, in fact, from a disc, then I think they may have a legit concern. But it seems there's a lot of conclusion jumping at the moment. It really doesn't take much to cut leather like that... a sharp edge on a barrier would do it.

Hmmm. If only there were a way to calculate the relative risk of injury caused by two different causes ... nah, no one could possibly know how to do that.

Video of the incendent here: http://video.eurosport.co.uk/...id960773/video.shtml

It could be possible that when going to the ground Doull's left foot went into Kittel's front wheel, which is why in the video it looks like something went into Kittel's front wheel and caused him to flip.

edit: here's Doull's interview after the race about the incident https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TPwDtl3ircY

yeah. While the video isn't the best, this looks like a case of confirmation bias...

As crazy as it sounds, it looks to me like as Doull went down, his body rotated right, and just as his left side is near Kittel's fork, Kittel suddenly goes over the bars with nothing on the road to cause that. I'm wondering if his left shoe went into Kittel's FRONT disc and launched Kittel?

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It looks like we thought the same...

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

You need to offer your services to the rider group ;-)

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Jumping to conclusions pretty quickly?

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Did you miss the word "apparently"?

I also find it highly ironic for you to make that statement :-/

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Haha I agree.

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How would this even be possible? Inside arch of his left shoe, disc brake rotors are on left side of bike. Doull would have had to be straddling Kittle's wheel in order for the rotor to cut his shoe in this manner.

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Jon Ryder
RPM Coaching

Maybe Trek is paying riders to say these things since they don't believe in disc brakes for Triathlon or Road bikes. haha

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"In my opinion unless there are covers on those things they’re pretty lethal.”

So, if the UCI regulates that you have to put a protective cover over the "blade" would the aero penalty preclude the braking advantage?

Also, "lethal" means "sufficient to cause death" not just "bad enough to really fuck up your shoes"

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"What's your claim?" - Ben Gravy
"Your best work is the work you're excited about" - Rick Rubin

Or he is sliding across the pavement on his butt. To my untrained eye, it looks like Doull submarines on his bike. His left foot comes up and the timing works out pretty well for when Kittel goes over his front wheel. I could be wrong but it looks like he might have a case here.

Usually when I have crashed my body doesn't remain in the upright, forward-facing riding position. :-P

Cassettes, chainrings, broken carbon parts and especially spokes can really cause cuts and are much more dangerous than disc brakes. I don't really understand this animosity against disc brakes.

I needed race wheels and just bought some Easton 55's yesterday, so I'm really hoping people don't jump on the disc wheel bandwagon for a while. My bike is only 1 year old, so I'm holding on to it before upgrading to see how the disc wheel thing plays out. Looks like more design refining is needed.

interesting though that the cut on his shoe is very straight and clean. i do think a disc rotor is the most likely thing to cause a cut like that. the question to me is not whether discs can or did cause an injury - of course they can, whether they actually did is immaterial - the question is whether they add significantly to the risks already present in all the sharp bits necessary on a bike as we know it

Before we get all Zapruder on that video, I want to be the first to put forth the theory that Doull was actually injured by a 2nd ninja located on the "sandy knoll" ;-)

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That disc rotor shielded him from getting his entire foot jammed into the spokes and causing catastrophic injury. He should be thankful for disc brakes!

I'll need to see a lot more evidence before I believe the disc caused the shoe cut.

The new shimano r-9100 rounded rotors appear to only have edge radius applied. A pretty poor design update IMO. These discs should have full rounded edges, not really sure why they don't make them maximally safe.

Hello Tom A. and All,

Each entire bicycle wheel should be covered for racing .... It would be more aero and provide for no worries about getting squirrels, feet, or fingers caught up in the spokes or disk brakes. (might require some redesign for the front wheel) but the back wheel is a no brainer.

F1 racing may be considering doing it for safety ..... although spectators are fascinated with seeing the crashes.



Open wheels for racing are traditional but dangerous .................

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

The safety of other parts is a red herring argument.

As RChung has pointed out many times, the safety comparison to be made is against other brake technologies.

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