lostarchitect 

...? How could someone messing with your shifters cause this, unless your derailleur was already poorly adjusted?

kingston 

+1
As a teenager in the 80's (which is the vintage of the cassette in question), I can tell you that none of the cool kids had dork disks or reflectors on their bikes. In those days if we saw someone riding a bike with shimano 600 and a dork disk, we would have called them a total poseur.

The Golden Boy 

None of the cool kids had bikes- they were driving cars because they were cool.


I like having reflectors- I'm out around dusk when I may or may not have a light or lights with me.

I don't mind turkey levers, providing they work decently with the bike they're on.

I also don't mind stem shifters, although they're not optimal for me.

Kickstands are also useful.

*shrug*

Stucky

That's what I'm wondering, too! Undo the cable; set the limit screws- the chain is not going past either end of the cassette- unless it drops- in which case a DD won't help ya' none.
@The Golden Boy: I used to love turkey levers when I was a kid. Funny thing, though: When I was a kid, I'd ride 100% of the time with my hands on the tops of the bars; never could stand to ride in the drops; never occured to me to ride on the hoods! Now that I'm 52, I ride in the drops a lot- and on the hoods the rest of the time- I now HATE the tops and never ride on them- not even climbing....so turkey levers wouldn't do me any good now.

newbie101

Exactly. I thought I would look "cool" by taking off a spoke protector. I overshifted and bent the chainstay. Frame unusable.

It's really too bad people care so much about what other people think. Especially about issues and things that no one else will ever notice, care about or think about.

jimmuller 

A little over 4 decades ago I took the DD off my UO8 because I thought it look cleaner. (That was during the same upgrade episode in which I switched it over from stem shifters to DT shifters.) Ever since then I have never had a DD on any bike. I have never experienced an "event" where a DD would have been good to have. I have always kept my RDs adjusted to where a DD didn't seem necessary. I have installed DDs on bikes meant for other people.

YMMV. If you wish to use one, by all means do so. Anyone who appreciates vintage bikes will understand your choice. Plenty of riders do not appreciate vintage bikes. They will look down their noses at your bike choice because of its age and frame material, not because you have a DD. Their opinion doesn't count anyway. If push comes to shove, demonstrate the power of the engine.

Stucky

For myself, it's not about what others think (I could care less) or "being cool", but rather, such things as:

*Plastic DDs get dirty/cloudy and gross-looking; Metal DDs just completely ruin the look of the bike.
*I don't want some gov't-mandated safety device, which is intended for children and those who don't know how to adjust a derailer.
*I don't want to rely on a safety device instead of having my derailer properly adjusted.

Sorry to see what happened to your bike though.

Dave Cutter

I gave up cycling at around age 14.... because I was too cool to ride a bicycle when (I was convinced) I looked old enough to be driving a car. I fully understand the (misguided) desire to "look cool".

To be honest.... I think bicycles look cleaner, and sleeker without all the additional crap like disks, reflectors, bells, mirrors, saddle bags, and water bottle cages. I've actually removed much of that stuff to photograph my vintage bikes. And I often remove most of it when I display a bike on my office wall too. I think the classic design of the vintage bicycle is truly a beautiful object to look at.

And although I usually ride a modern bike... I really like taking a vintage bicycle for a ride too. So I am always conflicted about leaving on the safety stuff. I do leave the DD's on... but have experimented with different ways of having the bikes display well yet be quick to take for a ride.

I attach the rear reflector to the saddle bag. So putting on the saddle bag adds the reflector too (and works on all bikes). I am thinking of a making a "clip-on" front reflector as well. I've tried just putting a bottled water (room temp) in a jersey pocket. It's not easy loving the looks of a clean bike... yet being a bit of a safety freak too.

Salubrious

I did that with a Shimano, only it twisted so far back the cage was on top of the freewheel. It would have been nicer if it was my bike but it wasn't. I had to replace a number of chain links that got bent up too.

The agony a disk would have saved me...

crank_addict

I agree for road race bikes.

Yet the OP question is rather funny because the majority of NON cyclist look at our attire and likely label all of us as Dorks! Nothing to do what a bike looks like.

Back to the clean, stripped down bike look. I've adapted to using a hydration pack / storage for road but sometimes even that doesn't work well if basic townie riding or casual attired. The solution is using one of the many quality 'fanny pack water bottle holders'. The one I use is a dual bottle with storage, comfy wide belt strap made by Ingear. Pictured is some other brand but gives one the idea. Would I'd be walking around the shopping mall with it on? Heck no, but they really are good alternative for cyclist and a clip-on blinky handily stays with it.

eschlwc

i don't see the utility of it unless you can't tune a rear derailleur.

but i think leaving them on bikes being sold helps me. it makes them less cool, both decreasing their demand and price.

velo orange dia compe hoods should work -- in white.

edit: oops. no, not aero. sorry.

eschlwc

have no idea what you're talking about. "overshifted ... bent the chainstay" because you didn't have a dork disk?

if i overshift, i'm just in a gear that's not most efficient for the grade. but i'm still in gear, because my derailleur has limit screws perfectly tuned.

maybe if i locked the bike up and someone came along and adjusted the low limit as a prank, i would need a dork disk.

wrong. if i'm the last man on earth, i'm removing the dork disk. "cool" needn't apply to anyone else but me.

browngw 

Taking a nicely designed shiny metal spoke protector off a vintage bike is like sawing the fins off a 59 Caddy. They belong.

Centaurious

I don't see what the big deal is. Campag RD are dirt cheap and spokes are so cheap you could replace them after each ride So What if something happens. Ounces matter when your riding to Starbucks.

[sarcasm off]

Dave Cutter

+1

crank_addict

Hey, this bike and rear disc is considered vintage by todays standards. Would you ride it?

kingston 

Apples and oranges. Your picture is from a 70's Sekine mixte that deserves a spoke protector because the woman riding it would have had no idea what a limit screw was. That bike also has turkey levers and stem shifters that are 100% appropriate for the intended use and should not be removed. The OP's cassette is a tight ratio MF-6208 from a high end road bike that never would have had a dork disk in the first place if it weren't for the same over-reaching government regulation that made manufacturers put reflectors on race bikes.

jimmuller 

I have a reflector on the front of the handlebar bag on my Masi. I sewed that reflector to the bag long before I even knew what Masi was. I now run a blinky as a rear reflector and light source on just about every bike I ride. But I still don't think I need a DD.

Dave Cutter

What a great idea/solution!!!!!

I may not commit to a fanny pack but a Velcro attached saddle bag for tire stuff.... with the rear reflector attached. And a front Velcro attached handlebar bag or water bottle pouch (with front reflector attached) and I can have a clean display bike that is street legal and ready in seconds. THANKS for the suggestion. Here is what I think I might add to my gear:


And.... the dork disk... it belongs and stays.

eschlwc

i concede. if your dork disk is nicer than your rear derailleur, keep it.

rootboy 

Dork em if you got em.

lostarchitect 

How on earth did you do this? Sounds like you previously bent the hanger or RD cage. Or maybe it was just very, very poorly adjusted. Either way, a dork disk would not likely have prevented it. Although if you did the damage removing the disk, I guess you have an argument there!

uncle uncle

This is funny... a bunch of 50 year old dudes, riding 40 year old bikes, wearing what adds up to spandex underwear outdoors, debating the aesthetics of what amounts to a pie plate on your back wheel. We are all dorks, whether you disk or not. Be as dorky as you want, a DD amounts to spitting in the moat around the mythical castle Superdorkadom, which is where all us bike riding fairy princesses imagine we live.

The Golden Boy 

Quoted. Sigged. Dominate.

Sir_Name 

Ew.