Italian team makes history with entire squad on disc brakes
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Lampre-Merida is using 160mm Shimano rotors(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
FlandersDiscs1.jpg(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Merida is using the RAT system, which combines the speed of quick release with the stability of a thru axle(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
The RAT axles slide straight through, then lock in place with a 90-degree turn of the lever. Lampre-Merida mechanics greased the locking end of the RAT(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Switching to disc brakes means a complete overhaul of a team's system(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Roompot-Oranje Peloton has been experimenting with discs this season. At the Tour of Flanders, they used a mix of rim-brake and disc bikes(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
Roompot started the year with 160mm rotors, but has switched to 140mm(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
This may become a more common sight at pro races…(Image credit: Ben Delaney/Immediate Media)
On Sunday at the 100th Tour of Flanders, Lampre-Merida became the first WorldTour team to start a major event entirely on disc brakes. Riding Merida Scultura Disc bikes with Shimano hydraulic brakes, the Italian team set out from Brugge amidst the standard sea of rim-brake bikes.
Lampre-Merida had a few riders on disc bikes for a single stage of Three Days of De Panne, but the team went all in for Flanders, with not only the race bikes but all the spare bikes and thus all the spare wheels being discs.
The Merida Scultura Disc frame uses the RAT system launched by Focus, which combines the quickness of a quick release with the security of a thru-axle.
“It is quick to change but it is also stiff,” Lampre-Merida mechanic Ralf Tiede said of the RAT system. “The stiffness is the most important thing, so the axle doesn’t move and cause noise with the rotor.”
“We made the decision this year to try,” said Roompot team director Michel Cornelisse. “There were some problems initially, as there always are with new things, but now things are good and the riders choose to use them.”
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Roompot began the year testing 160mm rotors and have switched to 140mm.
Other teams at the Tour of Flanders said that logistics and the still-unclear UCI position on disc specifications are two big hurdles preventing them from making the switch.
For example, the UCI specified that 160mm rotors would be the standard this year, allowing neutral service and wheel and drivetrain companies to have a single setup to work with, but Roompot is running 140mm. At the Tour of Flanders, Shimano neutral support had a token second of spare disc wheels on each blue car - with 140mm rotors.
Specialized sponsors three WorldTour teams with bikes. While the California company clearly has disc bikes, the logistical adaptation to a new standard isn’t a quick or easy one, said team liaison Gianpaolo Mondini. This goes beyond just the race bikes, back-up bikes and spare wheels on the car.
“At a race like Flanders, Etixx [QuickStep] will have someone at every single sector of cobbles,” Mondini said. “There are only so many mechanics, so this group also includes soigneurs and even friends of the team. Since some of these people are volunteers, they aren’t yet ready to be quickly changing disc wheels. Plus, the UCI hasn’t yet settled on or at least enforced a rotor size.
“As a company, we are ready. But we prefer to have happy riders,” Mondini said. “Right now it is too risky to change to discs.”
At Lampre-Merida, the team riders said it’s not really a big deal.
“It’s not that different,” Luka Pibernik said of his new disc bike. “We will see today.”
