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    Is this plastic piece very important?

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    20 Comments

    1. J_B_T on

      If it’s already dangling cut it off. It’s to prevent the chain from jamming between the spokes and the cassette, destroying your wheel, so make sure your limit screws on the derailleur are set up properly.

    5. sleeklyjoe on

      Yes, people call this the dork disc. If you set the limit screws on your derailuer properly it serves absolutely no purpose.

    7. Oli99uk on

      No.  It’s there in case your limit screw is not correctly set to stop a chain falling off and hitting the spokes.

      Most people take it off once they are happy their gears are OK.

      I think the advantage of removal is mostly for looks

    9. Boring_Line_6947 on

      Cut it off!!! Immediately! If you don’t you will be subjected to laughs and ridicule from ppl who’s opinion you probably don’t give a shit about for hours.
      But seriously this plastic piece will keep you from progressing in your riding. You will be focused on the fact you are the only one who is riding with it still on your rim. You could always trade your bike in for a single speed or belt driven to not have this problem.
      Beach cruiser is also an option. Depends on how gay you want to look!

    11. romrelresearcher on

      Dork disc jokes aside, how important that piece of plastic is hinges on one important question: can you be trusted to keep tabs on your derailleur?

      If you are confident setting up your rear derailleur, and can notice when something isn’t quite right, remove the *spoke protector* and never look back.

      However, if you’re not comfortable in your wrenching skills and don’t trust your ability to check for a bent derailleur hanger, then keep it on. It’ll protect your chain from going into the spokes and causing potentially catastrophic damage.

      There is absolutely no shame in either option, just whatever suits you best.

    12. th3_eradicator on

      Le Dork Disc. For those of us that don’t care if our chains get jammed between our spokes.

    14. beatmypete on

      Right ! Right ! Lesson learnt, I don’t need the dork disc! Thank you everyone for the advice plus gentle slander on the side

    16. jorymil on

      It’s there to keep the chain from jumping into the spokes b/c of a misadjusted or damaged derailer. Should be fine to break it off and just keep an eye on the rear shifting. Plenty of people ride without them. Next time you’re in the shop, have them slap on a new one; only takes 10-15 minutes to pop off the cassette, pop on a spoke protector, then put the cassette back.

    17. Lumpy_Stranger_1056 on

      I have had a rock strike mess up my derailer and cause me to suck my chain into my spokes and screw my wheel up when I next tried to shift. This would have prevented the wheel damage or at least helped so important kinda, necessary no.

    18. Mental_Contest_3687 on

      Dork disk! Is this an honest question?

      If so: totally fine to cut it off, it’s not critical to the regular operation of your bicycle.

      However: it’s job is to protect your spokes from damage in the (happens more that we’d like to admit) occurrence that your bike over-shifts the chain into the spokes. Like a seatbelt, it’s not useful unless you have an accident… and then, it’s pretty important actually!

      So: if you don’t pay much attention to your derailleur adjustments or hanger alignment, it might be worth getting this replaced before we get deep into frequent summer rides. But, it’s okay to do without it. Welcome to the cool kids club (if you cut it off).

    19. DvdH_OTT on

      That’s supposed to be discarded at the first possible opportunity. It’s only there to keep a badly adjust derailleur (common on big box store bikes) from dumping the chain into spokes.

      You can snap it off or cut it off with some tin snips.

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