Wyman switches between vented and solid rotors depending on the course conditions

"We found that the braking performance is really greatly increased, and with the solid rotor there's almost no brake [pad] wear in a muddy race," he said. "It's unbelievable how it changes the longevity of your brake pads."

Despite what he sees as a huge performance advantage, Stefan Wyman admits that there's still little sign of a sea change when it comes to the European arena.

"In America, you have a lot of individuals [single-person teams], but the market in Europe, in terms of the racers, is driven by a few big, dominant teams," he said. "You're dealing with people that have been setting up 'cross bikes for 25 years and it's a big change. In Belgium, there's a big feeling that 'cross is traditional and it should be this, and it should be that. It's going to take a big change in attitude."

"There's also the misconception that there's a weight penalty with discs. This bike is 6.97kg [15.37lb] and that's not a weight penalty. It's less than 200g over the weight limit. There's absolutely no reason not to change over, apart from a lack of knowledge of how it works and the traditional elements of it, really."

eloy said:

Still kinda following the disc vs. cantilevers bit. Powers and about 98.5% of the male field were on Cantis over the weekend:

The thing is when I see Powers, Nys, and Comption choose cantis can't but think there's are good reasons other than tradition. It is interesting and fun to follow.

Marc Bertucco said:

Last year, or maybe the year before, I got into a twitter "fight" with Jeremy Powers about discs. He talked about the hole pad wear issue, and if you got the right rotors (which conveniently do not come with stock set ups), then all was okay.

It seems a number of Edwin's athletes have recently been racing their Aloominators with cantis lately. LVG in particular. I'm not sure what happened, but Bill was furious at his FTB at Providence...I think he's been racing the Aloominator since. But honestly, I haven't been "tracking" him since. And the fury at Providence...I guess could have been a lot of things.

Phillip Maronilla said:

I think the debate between cantis and dics is a moot point. 

If you're getting a new cx bike, most bikes are disc brake only anyway. In the end, I'm going to end up buying a Giant (thanks sponsor) TCX SLR with disc brakes because, sponsor or not, that's pretty much the only thing available to me, even though I would prefer cantis.

@VC95 @KissenaCycling my reason was timing of equipment ordering back in March. We didn't know if disc would be 100% available ...

@VC95 @KissenaCycling so we had to split the order and decided to use disc in USA & canti in euro, I miss the discs power in europe

@VC95 @KissenaCycling each system suits each course differently, racing in the USA disc is always a good choice - we have much faster tracks

@jverheul @CXHairs @spragg247 to chime in, JV is correct: In the USA you don't need <50 rpm, maybe ever. In Europe you need it every wknd

• With 1-1/2 laps to go, I was riding with a broken spoke. The massive wheel wobble kept me more cautious than I would have like. No neutral wheels at this race, but the sponsoring shop was nearby and hooked me up with a "while-you-wait" new spoke and wheel truing even though I strolled into their shop 35 minutes before they were about to close. I wasn't the only one, their wrench had quite a few cross bikes on the stands!
• It was raining and muddy. But not cold and no frozen ground, and limited off-cambers, so kind of a non-factor.
• In the Elite women's races, BrittLee took what looked to be a less than ideal start and worked her way back up to 11th place. Lots of grit and determination in that face. Strong legs. Better start and she would have been racing for about 6th place. No question.
• Mike Garrigan was back at the front of the action this week. Taking the hole shot and holding top 5 for the early laps. Faded to about 13th at his worst, then cranked back to take the final UCI point on tap with a 10th place sprint. He was on FTB with discs.
• Tried to bond with Bill Eliston at the breakfast bar this morning over hotel scrambled eggs and sausage patties. "Dude, we totally have the same haircut now!" He wasn't impressed. (jk)
  

Brendan Rigby said:

I feel like this was the race where I finally started to get it.  No idea how I finished, but I think I'm starting to understand how it works.  Can't wait for next season.