When even technical choices become religious wars, we risk losing objectivity. With disc brakes it's like this now. So when you realize that Pogacar wins the Lombardy With the brakes of the past, the factions revive. And yet, going to see, Tadej uses bikes fitted with both braking systems (rim-brakes and disc-brakes: rim brakes and disc brakes) and still wins. So who better than the winner of two Tours to explain why he chose this?
Different choices
Just look back a few steps and you realise that at the Tre Valli Varesine, on the Colnago V3RS The Slovenian's disc brakes were a real eye-catcherIt was raining and the route didn't have any particularly challenging climbs (according to his standards, obviously). However, within a few days, just at the Giro di Lombardia, his bike had reverted to the brakes of the past. To the Tour Same story. Disc brakes were used in the rain-soaked stage at Le Grand Bornand, while conventional brakes were used in the stage up the Col du Portet.
Almost 300 grams
He seems to enjoy it, and he's probably right. The relationship between Pogacar and the bike is based on one rule: it must be light..
«Weight is very important to me – he told us yesterday – because on climbs the value that matters is the watt/kilo ratio and I am certainly not the lightest rider in the group (Tadej weighs 66 kilos, ed.). Between the two bikes mounted differently, the difference is 300 grams. A lot, if you consider how much I'm used to focusing on details. Even the choice of lace-up shoes, for example, which I was the only one wearing at the 2019 Vuelta, while now there are already a dozen of them in the peloton. they are certainly very beautiful, but also super light».
Lightweight wheels
But let's get back to the brakes, a key point in the story, to see if there's a criterion that leads Tadej to choose one over the other. Whether he prefers one system over the other when it rains, or on difficult descents...
"In some races," he explained, "we have the option of using one bike or the other. I like both, and so Before Lombardy I let myself be guided by instinctI thought that especially in the final there were two very steep climbs and in the final maybe I could try an action. So I thought that lighter wheels would have been needed and you only have those with normal brakes. I don't let the weather affect me, both systems are fine for me even if it rains. Command the weight. That's why I chose to leave the bike with the discs on the truck."
A matter of mind
At this point, however, the user's curiosity leads us to ask him if it is for him so easy to switch from one braking position to another, since the bike's response to the braking action is quite differentHis answer makes you think about how easy everything comes to him and the naturalness with which he experiences his feeling with the bike and with sports.
“There is a difference,” he replied, “but I don’t think changing is that difficult. I have one with discs in Slovenia and one with normal brakes in Monaco, so I train with both without distinction.The important thing is to have the concentration to remember which one I'm using. Just two pinches are enough to get the measurements back and then you can go calmly."
If you could choose, Brakes are like tires: they change depending on the route. And all in all, the argument makes sense. He had disc brakes at Liège, for example, where there's no shortage of extreme gradients. He used one system and the other, following his feelings and at times the sponsor's needs. With extreme naturalness, as champions do.
