Remove dork disk?
02-29-12, 03:51 PM
#51
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No, almost the reverse. It exists only to stop a chain from dropping down between the cogs and spokes and lock up the rear wheel. A properly adjusted RD will prevent that. Its nothing to go a lifetime and never need one. Its a device to make crappy set up bikes safer (And looks like crap)
In theory, but not in practice.
02-29-12, 04:06 PM
#52
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02-29-12, 06:08 PM
#53
blah blah blah
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Upgrade to a Campy Super Record dork disc! Get their water bottle cage while you're at it...
https://www.wrenchscience.com/road/ca...tle+Cage/2012/
Awww... I thought there was SR cage?!? shoot
https://www.wrenchscience.com/road/ca...tle+Cage/2012/
Awww... I thought there was SR cage?!? shoot
03-01-12, 06:57 AM
#54
Senior Member
I'm not the most fashionable person when it comes to bike set up, but I can't abide a dork disk. I don't get worked up about spacers, seat bags, badly applied bar tape, high spoke count wheels or thickly padded saddles, but dork discs are where I draw the line. It screams 1978 Schwinn Varsity. It screams "I don't understand basic bike maintenance". It's like having a kick stand on a race bike. Also, it's not exactly hard to prevent your chain from going into your spokes, adjusting the limit screw takes about five seconds and it's worth knowing how to do it.
03-01-12, 11:17 AM
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Last edited by WC89; 03-01-12 at 11:19 AM. Reason: change font
03-01-12, 11:37 AM
#56
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Just keep the damn disk. If anyone asks you why you still have it, just tell them "Oh, that's the dish I am going to use to hand you your ass!". Then give them "the look", dial it up to 400 watts and "drope teh hammer"
Last edited by tagaproject6; 03-01-12 at 11:44 AM.
03-01-12, 12:29 PM
#58
I love custom cruisers
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If someone said that to me is tell them it needs to be bigger.
03-01-12, 03:11 PM
#59
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They say that if you can't take it off without breaking it, you should just leave it on. The premise is that if you have the mechanical knowledge to remove the cassette, you probably also have the knowledge to maintain the RD well enough to keep it out of the spokes; and if you don't, you don't.
03-17-12, 12:57 AM
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Here's my really craptastic story about not using a dork disc. This past week I was returning from a ride and I was literally a couple hundred feet from my apartment. I was in the small ring front/big back just basically getting ready to end my ride - thinking about a nice warm shower and some food. Then, all of a sudden I couldn't turn the crank.....weird. Then snap snap snap snap. WTF was that? I stop and look down to see my chain jammed between the large rear cog and the hub body. Not good. Also, the chain severed 4 spokes. Nice. I tried to yank that sucker out but it wasn't budging. I got to walk the rest of the way home carrying my bike and walking in road shoes. My neighbors probably think I'm an idiot.
I've been riding/racing for about 20 years and I've never had that happen. The derailleur limit screws were set correctly (...I think) and I haven't touch them in months of riding. I don't recall hitting the derailleur and hanger on anything. I'm perplexed. Anyway this is what happened:
The inside of the hub was gouged so badly that it is shot. That silver area where the spokes insert should be black. This sucks. If any of you remember, I messed up my front rim (same Mavic Ksyrium Elite) when a cab hit me a little back (it was on a different bike). So, basically I destroyed a $600 wheelset in a couple of weeks. FML.
Would the dork disc have helped? Something tells me that the forces that would gouge metal like that would eat through plastic as well. Who knows.
I've been riding/racing for about 20 years and I've never had that happen. The derailleur limit screws were set correctly (...I think) and I haven't touch them in months of riding. I don't recall hitting the derailleur and hanger on anything. I'm perplexed. Anyway this is what happened:
The inside of the hub was gouged so badly that it is shot. That silver area where the spokes insert should be black. This sucks. If any of you remember, I messed up my front rim (same Mavic Ksyrium Elite) when a cab hit me a little back (it was on a different bike). So, basically I destroyed a $600 wheelset in a couple of weeks. FML.
Would the dork disc have helped? Something tells me that the forces that would gouge metal like that would eat through plastic as well. Who knows.
03-17-12, 01:17 AM
#63
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Most people in this thread are treating like it's a big deal to break them off. I've known mechanics who don't mind breaking those flimsy dork disks either.
There's some tougher ones you may need to take a cassette off for to be really careful, but especially ones with tons of cracks in them already, don't fret about breaking them off as long as you're confident in your derailleur.
There's some tougher ones you may need to take a cassette off for to be really careful, but especially ones with tons of cracks in them already, don't fret about breaking them off as long as you're confident in your derailleur.
03-17-12, 01:44 AM
#64
Bicycle Repair Man !!!
Some of the old metal discs were often done up very tastefully and were strong enough to withstand the force of the chain and keep it out of your spokes... realize too that these older bicycles also had bushing chains with pins that were not flush and these were also more likely to grab a spoke.
Have seen a few of these old metal discs where you could see where they had suffered some pretty good abuse but that they had done their job and saved the spokes.
Modern chains are bushing-less and anything over 8 speeds is going to have flush pins and with a properly set derailleur you don't need a dork disk... drop your bike on the drive side and you might wish you had kept it when the shift to the bottom takes the chain up and over the big cog and send the chain into the spokes.
Doing a pre-ride check is always a good idea to make sure things are set properly.
Some very nice bicycles came with dork disks too... think this one belongs to a BF member's Fuji.
Have seen a few of these old metal discs where you could see where they had suffered some pretty good abuse but that they had done their job and saved the spokes.
Modern chains are bushing-less and anything over 8 speeds is going to have flush pins and with a properly set derailleur you don't need a dork disk... drop your bike on the drive side and you might wish you had kept it when the shift to the bottom takes the chain up and over the big cog and send the chain into the spokes.
Doing a pre-ride check is always a good idea to make sure things are set properly.
Some very nice bicycles came with dork disks too... think this one belongs to a BF member's Fuji.
03-17-12, 04:48 AM
#65
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They say that if you can't take it off without breaking it, you should just leave it on. The premise is that if you have the mechanical knowledge to remove the cassette, you probably also have the knowledge to maintain the RD well enough to keep it out of the spokes; and if you don't, you don't.
03-17-12, 09:39 AM
#66
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
I've been riding/racing for about 20 years and I've never had that happen. The derailleur limit screws were set correctly (...I think) and I haven't touch them in months of riding. I don't recall hitting the derailleur and hanger on anything. I'm perplexed. Anyway this is what happened:
03-17-12, 01:45 PM
#67
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Please leave the dork disk on. It's a quick and easy way to identify a dork so I don't draft.
03-17-12, 05:39 PM
#69
Portland Fred
There are three good rules of thumb to keep in mind:
- If you even wonder if you should remove it, leave it on
- If you require any advice or help removing it, leave it on
- If you don't already own the correct tools for the job, leave it on
03-17-12, 06:17 PM
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Spoke protectors look fine unless they're gigantic or starting to turn yellow. I didn't mind mine until it started wobbling and making a noise, so I took it off. It was plastic and had a slight crack near the center. Spoke reflectors, on the other hand, really look 'tarded. I can't stand seeing them spin.
That's what it's designed for.
That's what it's designed for.
03-17-12, 07:34 PM
#72
Bike ≠ Car ≠ Ped.
03-17-12, 10:00 PM
#73
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03-17-12, 11:28 PM
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I had already shifted about 10 seconds prior, turned a corner onto my street (which is slightly uphill) and then BAM. I was going slow - probably less than 10 mph. The only thing I can think of is running over some rather large potholes/rough pavement (my street sucks, but hey it's NYC) might have caused the chain to jump some weird way.
The last time something catastrophic like this happened was when I was mountain biking and bike rear hub started grinding and then it became a fixed gear because one of the internal pawls had broken. That was fixable. This is not, unfortunately.
The last time something catastrophic like this happened was when I was mountain biking and bike rear hub started grinding and then it became a fixed gear because one of the internal pawls had broken. That was fixable. This is not, unfortunately.
03-18-12, 07:28 AM
#75
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I had some tin snips, small wire snips, pliers and a Dremel tool at my disposal. It took all four and 20 minutes. Whatever material that Dork disks are made from - they are HARD to get off without the right tools. It took the Dremel to finally get to a point where I could remove with sheer force. Sadly, I nicked a few spokes with the Dremel cutoff tool. Weighing the disk in my hand I would say it weighs all of 15-20 grams.
