Cogset guard???

[ny biker]

It's often called a "dork disc."

Pie plate.

My bike has a small black one, barely larger than the largest cog. I haven't gotten around to taking it off yet because it's not as noticeable as the big ones. Also I seem to care less and less about being one of the cool kids...

[westtexas]

+1 on pie plate as the name for it.

My new bike doesn't have it. The wheels I got for it didn't even come with one. Mostly I have found they just yellow with age and get dirty and look unsightly.

I'd just take it off and be done with it

[Owlie]

Pie plate.

My bike has a small black one, barely larger than the largest cog. I haven't gotten around to taking it off yet because it's not as noticeable as the big ones. Also I seem to care less and less about being one of the cool kids...

Yeah, really. Mine's clear and hardly noticeable. Given how often my derailleur likes to go out of whack, I think I'll keep it. I'm not going to be mistaken for "cool" any time soon.

[AZchick]

I didn't know it was REALLy called a Spoke Guard... aka corset guard , coast guard... and also frisbee thing.

So in the end, the guy at the LBS cut the thing off for me. Said the one on my bike doesn't do much good anyway, as it doesn't protect the spokes down close to the hub. It was there more for original assembly of the bike.

[DebW]

Spoke protector is another name. And those tabs do break off fairly frequently. Then the things slop around when the wheel spins and make lots of noise. At the shop, we replace them when they are broken and generally recommend them on low to mid level bikes. Sometimes I get a wheel without one in which the chain has been shifted into the spokes. Many to all of the in-facing spokes on the cassette side will be gouged and need to be replaced.