Some people do not like the additional weight that a bike dork disc brings to their bike, while others do not believe it is necessary. If you have either of these reasons, you can choose to remove the dork disc from your bike. If the rider continues to pedal, the wheel will be damaged. But even if he/she immediately halts all pedaling effort, the chain will still harm the spokes because the wheel will keep on spinning due to the coasting hub. More often than not, this accessory is found on cheaper bicycles with entry-level specifications. Hence why you never see it on TV during big cycling championships.

Suppose your bike’s derailleur is not set correctly. In that case, it will pull the chain laterally, which leads to misalignment and chain dropping.To reduce chances of such disasters happening, you can look at this article on why you need a derailleur guardand get one today. 3. A Jump or Landing The way a bike dork disc work is relatively straightforward. From where it sits, it serves as a barrier that deflects the chain and rear derailleur from colliding with the rear wheel’s spokes.

After speaking with a buddy of mine who runs a local bicycle shop in town, I asked him what percentage of people have their spoke protector on whenever they bring their bike in for a tune up and he said that most of the average cyclists and beginners, have the disc on when they bring their bike in. Modern spoke protectors have been degraded to cheap plastics, but that hasn’t always been the case. From a technical point of view, you shouldn’t remove the spoke protector. Furthermore, an accident can make a perfectly indexed derailleur drop the chain in. If that were ever to happen and find you without a spoke guard, the chain would completely destroy your wheel. It's called that because a lot of cyclists are dorks and therefore remove the disk. Eventually, due to rear derailleur damage, the rear derailleur gets out of adjustment and causes the chain to get between the spinning wheel spokes and the stationary cassette. You get spoke damage that way. Just 1 time of your chain getting lodged in there, and depending on how fast you are pedaling, could significantly damage the spokes.Tip: If the spoke protector drops on a trip in the wilderness, and you don’t have the means to remove it, you can make holes in with a knife or a tool (e.g., the awl of a Swiss army knife) and tie it to the spokes with zip-ties. Are All Spoke Guards Ugly? Cheaper bicycles have entry-level components that do not operate as majestically as their “upgraded brothers” relying on the latest cycling technology. If your derailleur is misaligned, it will pull the chain sideways. If the misalignment is big enough, it can lead to an involuntary shift of gears. This is known as gear slipping. As mentioned, preventing the contamination of the brake pads and the brake rotor is also another job that a spoke protector does. When dirt gets to your bike’s brake pads, they become very noisy to operate. The brake pads also lose their efficiency, which can cause problems and accidents. ( source) Is a Dork Disc a Necessary Bike Part?