Out of curiosity- why would you want a rim brake? Is it mainly just a price thing or some other reason?

Cost isn’t that big of an issue, disc brakes rims seem to last longer because of construction and not having a brake track, so for me it’s close enough to a wash.

The main this is performance. They are always heavier, and contrary to marketing are poorer aerodynamically, although it seems like that gap could close, I’m no expert.

Thanks for that description- I went though something similar when looking at my Felt. Ultimately I decided on disc brakes because of their stopping power in poor conditions. I don't often ride in the rain (I'm just kinda weak like that), but it happens. So I wanted the extra capabilities to stop in those conditions. That came above the bit of weight and the aerodynamics that I probably wouldn't get since I'm not at the pointy end of my age group.

I have a 2009 P4 equipped with Campy 10 speed that I would like to ride for the rest of my life. The way I look at it is that Fabian Cancellara won the TT Worlds on it, so it is a fast bike. Speed is what I work on everyday. Most courses I race on I only use the brakes when entering T2. I still have my original brake pads on the front from early 2000's. I have ridden approximately 120,000 km in that timeframe. My brakes work fine. It's the engine that needs work!

A few good companies out there that haven't abandoned the rim brake for tri yet... ahem. I totally get wanting disc brakes for road bikes. Probably even for tri bikes if you're training outside a ton on the tri bike, but there are still close to 0 good reasons to need it for actually racing. Plus, even if you have the budget for a new disc brake bike, rim brake wheels (and bikes) will be significantly cheaper for awhile, and still plentiful. You can pretty easily get a Hed jet+ disc/9 combo for under $1000. Good luck even finding a disc brake disc for under $1500.

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If you have nothing else you can go either way. If you already have one of them then there is a little extra money than you would need to spend to switch.

Last year I bought a rim brake and race wheels and will likely go 6-7 years on it. I don't know where the market will be then but I have what I need until 2027.

I'm riding a P4 and it's fine for me. I think the op is correct in thinking market forces are moving to disc brakes. One concern is changing axle standards. Will tt bikes stay using one through axle standard or in the next few years will a "better" wider one be adopted like in mtb?
If money is no object then I'd go for hydraulic discs but I'd need two sets of wheels and the price gets very high quickly. If you already have a disc road bike and have compatible wheels then you're half way there

Cancellara won Worlds on P3s (2006 and 2007) and Shivs from 2009+. I don't recall ever seeing him on a P4.

Rim brakes are fine. If you want good braking in all conditions, ride Hed Jets.

Eventually rim brake bikes will disappear but not for a long while. Currently there is insanity about wheels standards that rim brakes don't face, Hook and hookless standards, tubeless, etc, and who makes what tire for what rim type not to mention through axle standards are different. Its probably worse than the the bottom bracket fiasco. Disc brake wheels are cheaper to make but don't believe for a second that, that savings will be passed on to you. The market drives prices not any good will from "big bike".

Rim brake bikes don't suffer from any of this. Also rim brakes wheels are faster and a tad lighter, pure and simple, regardless of all the marketing crap. Depending on your case it might be better to get a rim brake bike and wait out all the growing pains of wheel standards for disc brake bikes.

If money isn't a problem now or in the future buy a disc brake bike but don't be surprised if you want to the latest and greatest tire/wheel combo in the future don't be surprised to find out that your current wheels will not work.

Good luck

The Tor de France was won on rim brakes. Disc brakes are great, or so I’ve heard (never used them on a road bike), but rim brakes are just so.... easy (mechanically speaking). Well, some of the integrated setups are junk, but any conventional rim brake from the major brands is gonna work well when paired with a decent rim and pads.

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Rim brakes are also much easier to travel with and there is minimal repair or maintenance. You’re a housing /cable set of pads away from solving 100% of rim caliper problems. Discs are tremendous for mtb and cx but for road (and even more so TT) they are solving a problem that doesn’t exist (breaking performance) at the expense of creating a bunch of others. Plus the value from ‘gotta have the latest’ crowd dumping their (often faster(!)) rim stuff onto the secondary market means you can pay like 70% off retail for top spec gear.