German lightweight specialist Tune has released details of its own take on a disc brake guard for road bikes. Photographed here in prototype form, the Disc Sheath is a bolt-on solution that works together with Shimano’s Flat Mount standard to shield a majority of the rotor’s edge.
Originally reported by Bikerumor, the news comes only days after BikeRadar learned that Italian firm TRed was nearing production with its own very different disc guard design.
- Could disc brake guards be the solution (to a problem that may not exist)?
- Are road disc brakes dangerous?
Chosen to work with 160mm rotors, the guards mount independently of the bike’s axles, meaning wheel changes should remain uninterrupted. The covers wedge between the brake mounts and caliper and require special washers to space the design accordingly.
The use of said washers does distance the caliper from the disc slightly, reducing overall pad contact. It’s a compromise that Tune is happy with, though, and should mean these will fit comfortably on any flat-mount compatible frame or fork with a 160mm rotor in place.
Pictured here are pre-production 3D printed prototypes, the finished product will – unsurprisingly for Tune – arrive in carbon fibre.
It’s a fresh and somewhat surprising approach in the ongoing discussion on the safety of disc brakes in the professional road peloton, and we're expecting plenty of similar designs to emerge before these hit production
As of yet we’ve got no word on pricing but have been told to expect production versions by September.
