Disc guards are now a regular sight in World Cup downhill and you can finally get your hands on your own version, manufactured in the UK.
Disc guards serve multiple functions, but are designed primarily to keep brake temperatures regulated by reducing the amount of cooling air, water or contaminating mud getting onto the surface of the disc.
There are a number of disc guards available, but unless you’re on a factory race team, they're rare. Could this one from G10 PRJCT be the solution?
Why are riders running disc guards?
In downhill racing, the brakes need to be as consistent as possible. This enables riders to correctly calculate their braking points, confident they can rely on the brake feel and power they're used to.
A disc guard helps with that by limiting the amount of cooling air and water, which hasten heat dissipation. Disc guards also help prevent mud and dirt from getting onto the rotor and reducing friction between the disc and pads.
Finally, disc guards can prevent debris getting stuck in the disc and help limit damage to rotors.
Weights and measures
This Fox 38-specific model weighs 167g and is made of stiff carbon-fibre reinforced 3D-printing substrate.
It is specific to each model of fork and is available for the Fox Podium, Fox 38, Fox 36, Öhlins RXF38 and RockShox Zeb – and either 200mm or 220mm rotors.
It fits via the simple method of attaching two cable ties around the fork leg. The supplied metal-core cable ties are smart – if you fasten from the inside, the heads of the ties are hidden for extra stealth.
Niftily, the wheel can be fitted and removed easily with the disc cover in situ, thanks to carefully formed cutouts.
World Cup and motorsport heritage
Gio Piras is an engineer for the Santa Cruz Syndicate and created the 3D-printed disc guards used by their World Cup racers, including World Cup series winner and world champion Jackson Goldstone.
Before this role, he worked as an engineer for MotoGP teams. This was where he gained experience with the expensive carbon-fibre disc covers that hide the carbon-ceramic discs.
Piras explains riders use them to either keep heat in (on tracks with long straights and low air temperatures) or direct air onto the discs to cool them down on slow tracks in hot weather.
Piras took this engineering knowledge and his 3D-printing prowess to create his own disc rotor guards for the Syndicate team.
He generated a production version of the factory-only World Cup downhill disc guard, using a 3D scanner to map common enduro forks and create a base shape. He then overlaid the largest disc calipers he could find (including Mavens and XTRs) to make sure there was just enough space for every combination.
Production
Piras creates the guards in-house on two 3D printers loaded with pre-heated and costly print substrate containing carbon fibre. Each print takes 13 hours and is energy-intensive.
The cable ties have metal inserts for extra strength and are included with each disc guard.
Longevity
In testing, Piras employed the non-high-tech, but nevertheless effective, test of chucking a 10kg kettlebell onto the disc guard while it rested on a flat concrete floor. After 100 reps, it was still undamaged.
This should be more force than it could ever encounter out on the trails.
Price and availability
- Forks: Fox Podium, Fox 38, Fox 36, RockShox Zeb, Öhlins RXF38
- Rotor size: 200mm or 220mm
- Colour: Black only
- Price: £75 (including shipping) / €72.95 (plus shipping and tax) / $86 (plus shipping and tax)
