Marrock

Let's see here, the Moto still has it because the damn thing still looks new and I don't want to take it off, the folder's just crumbled over time and removed itself, the one on the bike I use for pulling the BoB trailer came cracked so I finished the job and removed it with a utility knife, the trike doesn't need one since the chain is nowhere near the wheels and the Footbike doesn't even have a chain.

And I think the old beater has half of one.

UnsafeAlpine

But the pros don't have them!

pacificaslim

I figure the reason it's looked down on is that it is only needed by people who don't take good care of their bikes. After all, if one has their rear derailleur adjusted properly, it won't be able to throw the chain off towards the spokes. Therefore "dork discs" are synonymous with newbies or people who can't do bike maintenance.

mastronaut

Proud to be a dork! The Schwinn ones were coveted by all my buddies growing up! The chrome, the chrome!
I never liked the plastic ones, they get yellow after a while...

BCRider

..... or folks that have sticks fly up and get caught in the chain or have them go out of adjustment due to a crash or folks that change wheels a fair amount or a host of other factors.

I think I take pretty darned good care of my bikes. But I don't check the limit screws unless I'm working on the derraileur. Yet I've had the chain fly off the inside a few times on my mountain bikes. Most of them there was a dork disc to catch it and it was no big deal to put it back on. Another time on a nice vintage road bike I had there was no disc and it ate all the inside spokes when it happened on a climb. Total wheel collapse in the blink of an eye.

I'm proud to fly my dork discs in defiance of what any self appointed pundits claim. It's super cheap insurance against long walks back to the truck or home, getting hurt and the cost of new spokes.

2manybikes

I had a tire that was tough to get off. I used 10 lbs. of C4. The tire is off now, but are the bearings OK?
So far I found most of the parts.

roccobike

Finally, some common sense about the forlorn dork disc. My new OCR-C has a dork disk, a nice small one, and its staying. Those zero light wheels are worth protecting. If it wasn't for the dork disc my son would have totaled the Mavic 117 on my MTB when he had a wreck. The total damage was, one destroyed dork disc.

HillRider

That was extremely foolish. 1-1/2 pounds would have done the job and the parts would have been easier to find. The bearings probably need to be replaced anyway.

unterhausen

reflectors are one thing, but kickstands are pretty useless.

I've never had my chain go off into my spokes, although I've seen plenty of bikes where that has happened. I guess it comes from paying attention to my rear dérailleur and not letting it get bent. And there is nothing worse than a bike where the chain is stuck on the dork disk.

Marrock

Well, the kickstands on my bikes hold them up when they're not being ridden, that hardly seems useless to me.

Not everyone worries obsessively about the weight of their bike, I'd rather put that energy into enjoying the ride.

mastronaut

+1 absolutely! I think it's pretty obvious if you see my bikes...

Wino Ryder

Actually my post was meant as a bit 'tongue-in-cheek' but with a point. Sure most of us know how to adjust derailleur limiter screws to keep from over shifting off the largest cog, but what about the people who dont??...Should they suffer from the over zealous antics of whats supposed to be concieved as "cool" when it overrides a proven safety device the manufacturers think is necessary??

What about some dear old lady down the street, who upon the advice of some jerk, lets him remove her 'dork disc' because its not cool. Two weeks later this same sweet lady wants to ride her bike around the neighborhood but her derailluer is out of adjustment. She unknowingly overshifts into a lower gear and "rrriiipp" her spokes are ripped out and it causes her to crash. She's hurt and possibly could die.

Man I shudder to think, all because some moron learned on BikeForums that its not cool to have a spoke protector on a bike, and is therefore going to preach such idiosy to less mechanically inclined individuals who dont know any better. They are the ones that suffer such wisdom.

You have to see a bigger picture.

~thanks 'roccobike', I feel much better now.

BCRider

I've altered my sig line to express my love of dork discs......

BMX Race Bikes

I'm thinking the same way

Wino Ryder

Yeah, for real. I'm even thinking about installing a big one on my Tommasini and riding to the LBS next saturday to mingle with the fast guys.

oilman_15106

Except you have now turned a free wheel in to a $50 wheel?

Eggywootah

I think it's kind of an ideological thing with the pie plates and the kickstands - not to have anything not strictly necessary attached.

less is moar?
minimalism?
pare it down?

Personally I would feel silly with a kickstand on my road bike. I mean, all that effort turning it into a fast machine and then stick something on it to help it stand still?

BCRider

On a basic level I totally agree. However there's lots of bikes out there that look better standing still that just beg for kickstands.....


.... where's the "evilgrin" smilie....

miamijim

.....deep breath..............deep breath.

mike_s

If you're riding 24/7, you have a point.

mcgreivey

Save the innocent dork disks! They never did anyone any harm!

We should start an advocacy group. What should it be called? Hmmm...

Society for the Prevention of Violence to Dork Disk
Society for the Preservation of Dork Disks
Dork Disk Preservation Society

Save Our Dork Disks from Oblivious Fire Fiends .... SODDOFF

That's it! Brilliant!

jsharr

I like to listen to music while I wrench. I try to match the tune to the task, as I think it makes the time pass faster. I would have had this blasting as I torched my spoke protector.

M_S

I think I remembered why I read bikeforums.


(The information, of course.)

Makeitso

If you don't like my spoke protector, reflectors or kickstand ignore them.

UnsafeAlpine

I hate them so much, I'm gonna torch them right off