Cycling: From January 1, 2016, every professional rider can choose whether to start with rim or disc brakes in every race. The UCI decided on this second, greatly expanded test phase last Friday in Basel and published the corresponding press release today. This is nothing less than a de facto introduction to professional disc brakes.
No matter which race, no matter which driver, no matter which team: Anyone starting a UCI race from January 1, 2016 can freely choose between disc or rim brakes. After road disc brakes had already been approved by the UCI for certain races last year, this second phase of testing is basically an official introduction of the new braking system and should probably represent a smooth transition to the official introduction in 2017.
Such a decision was already to be expected, because the UCI has been pushing the topic of disc brakes on the road very briskly in recent months - too bold for many teams and also parts of the industry. Even though Shimano and SRAM already have the first generations of their disc brakes in their range and the Italian cult manufacturer Campagnolo will follow suit with their own disc brakes in the spring, the bike manufacturers, the teams and last but not least the riders must also prepare and adapt to the new brakes .
Due to the fundamentally new loads caused by the disc brakes, new frames and forks and of course new wheels are needed. Likewise, riders who have been using rim brakes for years still have to get used to the new braking characteristics. This requires a lot of test kilometers, for the road pilots as well as for the bicycle and component manufacturers. This is probably one of the reasons why the UCI decided in favor of this smooth transition: This way, teams and manufacturers can test and convert and prepare for the changeover for a season.
However, this could shake up the peloton. We will probably find a mixed field of riders with rim and disc brakes at many races. Assuming the decisive mountain stage of the tour sinks in the rain - maybe the disc brakes could become a decisive factor in such a scenario. In any case, we are extremely excited.