Well, have gone through my bike, and I cannot say heat from braking had anything to do with what happened.

I found a hole in the intertube, and a mark by this location in the tire, so I just have to assume it happened while taking the bike back into T2. This makes more
sense since I have had front flats in the past and once that happened, the bike was unstable and I was done riding.

Since my zipp disc seemed to move side to side a little, I took the axel out and did not see anything funny. Screwed the end cap onto the axel and put back on the bike. No more side to side movement. Took it for a ride and felt nothing funny. So all I can guess is with the real rough road in the race, it caused the zipp rear disc to loosen up a little and it made funny noises. Guess will just ride it again in my next race in 2 weeks and see what happens. Disappointing since I was having a good bike for me and lost a good 2 minutes taking the last mile so slow. Oh well, another day to battle.

But, still going to keep my eyes open for new bikes. But, still not looking like anything at a decent price in the near future.

Brakes - all they do is slow ya down.

Good rim brakes (I have the Magura hydraulics) on alloy rims is more than sufficient braking, in pretty much any conditions.
The contact patch of skinny road tires is a greater limiter than the brake/rim interface, assuming you have good pads in good condition.

Perhaps if you rode outdoors more than just on raceday, you'd be a more confident bike handler and not have to overbrake so much?
There's a lot more to riding a bike than pedaling it - but that's the only bike skill you ever choose to train.

Sweeney's suggestion is a good one, and the least spendy fix for your needs, as 70-90% of your braking comes from the F wheel anyway, and even a crappy R brake (the P4's excepted) can easily lock up the R tire, even when the rims are wet.

You don't need a new bike. It's not the solution for the problems you're encountering.
But any excuse to buy a new bike is a good one! So enjoy some P = n + 1.

Yep, I might be better. But I also might be done racing from a bike accident. I just do not like to ride my bike outside. Too boring. Would rather work on my house. Play with my trains. Run races with my grandkids pushing them in strollers or pulling during the swim in a kayak.

So I get it. Some like to bike. Some like to swim. Some like to run.

Isn't something like 90% of your stopping power from the front wheel during hard braking?

Dave,

I'm in the same boat (or bike) as you. i did HITS Napa earlier this year and had to stop due to dangerous braking in wet hilly conditions.

I would love a non-super bike option, but right now the only options are Cervelo P5X, which is crazy expensive, the Diamondback Andean, which is less, but still expensive and heavy which is tough on hills but fast aerodynamically and the Parlee TTIR which is fast and similar in price to Andean and i am test riding one Thursday.

i thought about modifying my existing bike, but doesn't seem as safe. i also thought about a road bike and putting on a Tririg Alpha X, but the geometry isn't ideal.

i suspect cannondale and canyon are coming out with disc brake tri bikes in next few months. specialized might too. boardman, cube, bmc, giant, trek and others are definitely not and there is no chinese manufacturer that makes a disc brake frame. i have looked around because i only want a disc brake tri bike (flame me if you want) and am frustrated with limited options.

i will be getting something this winter to replace my 2004 bike frame and if it is the parlee, ill be happy but my wife may be pissed at what it costs.

Dave,

all i can tell you on sizing is i am 5'10" and i size to a M leaving the ML and L for folks bigger than me and making me guess that a L would fit you, but if you know your stack and reach, Parlee has a very detailed sizing chart on their website.

I'm a bike mechanic and am going to do my own build. im going to do a 1x setup with sram wifli etap, a wolftooth 50t chainring, lightening crank, and blade x wheels. I'm waiting for sram and trp hydraulic brakes to hit the market (both have been announced) and will decide between them.

are you in sacramento? im headed that way on November 4th for the 100 mile Rio del lago race as a pacer for a couple buddies.

I'm a newbie to cycling but I didn't want to waste any time with upgrading since I'm nearing 50 and wanted to make no excuses regarding not having better race equipment. The goal being kona.
Long story short I bought a parlee ttir and have no regrets. Especially because that's the only bike I found with everything I read that a race bike should have and more importantly was the best fitting I tried.