Training a lot in the Alps in France where it can get wet very suddenly, I had been riding carbon wheels for a while (mavic, caden, lightweight), but got scared too many times on descents. I was not considering switching to disc, so went back to aluminium clinchers.

I found the best weight/braking efficiency ratio to be the Mavic R-SYS SLR (I now own 2 pairs of these). I think they stopped manufacturing these since the product rationalisation post- Mavic recent takeover, but you can find them online second hand (try https://www.troc-velo.com/). Claimed weight for the wheelset is 1.30kg.
Other heavier and popular options include Shimano C24 (claimed weight 1.42kg), Shamal Ultras (1.45kg) or Fulcrum Zero Nite (1.42kg).

I kept one pair of carbon clinchers. I still race with them in dry weather, you can't beat the weight of carbon rims with tubulars.

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It doesn't get easier, you just get slower
https://mymsracesironman.home.blog/

Disc brakes are better for stopping than aluminum rims. That’s how the industry is answering your question.

Yes, I had Flo carbons a few years ago and changed to HED Blacks in 2018 for the braking power. They are freaking awesome. I can honestly say the braking yesterday was no big deal for me.

This is exactly my point when the disc brake nay-sayers do their nay-saying.

When (not if, where I live) it rains, on a course with 20-30 junctions that have to be slowed down forward, and a lot of bends and braking points, the control (as well as power) of discs massively outweighs aero.
And also the rims don't wear down .

I have a set of Hed Jet Blacks that I've used for over 5 years...have somewhere in the range of ~15-20K miles on them...used up and down some large climbs/descents...in all manner of weather...AND with the last 2 years nearly exclusively used as a "gravel" wheelset in a dirt-heavy bias.

They show NO wear whatsoever at the brake track. Still black as night.

I also prefer the performance of them over discs in wet or dry. As much power (and in some cases more), but tend not to be as "grabby".

So, like most things in this debate (possible performance of rim vs. disc applications), it highly depends on the particular equipment.

Has anyone else noticed that when riding disc brakes in heavy wet conditions, there's still that moment of "oh shit, nothing's happening" when you first apply the brakes? I have...

So, for the OP, my recommendation would be to do exactly as you proposed and switch out your wheels for equivalently deep ones with an aluminum brake track. If the tracks are bare aluminum, pair them with a set of KoolStop Salmons (or the KoolStop dual compound pads if the straight Salmons are "grabby"), or some SwissStop BXP blue pads and you'll be much better off...plus, that should be far less a disruption to you setup than getting a whole new bike and wheels, right? ;-) If you can, try to get some Hed Jet Black models (you use regular black pads with those) since that's whole 'nuther level of performance.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Yes, it is worth it. Weight is demonstrably (with physics) a far lower performance factor than either aero OR braking power. One of the dumbest things ever done by wheel designers and consumers was over-valuing wheel weight over braking.

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

Please share this memo with Roglic and Pogacar, because they seem to be missing this valuable piece of information.

I found that how I toe in my brake pads for certain Carbon rims makes all the difference. With Enve they seem pretty solid with the textured surface. Campagnolo WTO Bora is good, Zipp NSW is ok. With my old HED Stingers, which were smooth like the rim, they needed more of a angle/ toe-in to pinch and grab the wheel. I’m not on the disc brake train for road or TT.
I do always keep a set of aluminum wheels on hand for travel and shitty weather for training.

Never left

Talked about it for years on here. Discs brakes were a solution to problem created by people chasing carbon wheels. The HED JET Black was an awesome solution drowned out by the voices of all carbon wheels and then disc brakes.

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Specifically got Hed Jet6s for my roadie (with salmon pads) for the superior braking.

Ditto for my tri bike (Renn disc and Hed J9), especially since the tri brakes suck.

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ECMGN Therapy Silicon Valley:
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I'm still of the rim brake brigade and generally run Hed Jet and H3+ wheels with aluminium braking. I still have carbon rims and I found pads can make a big difference braking especially in the wet. I first found the Reynolds blue brake pads were the best performing and then stumbled across Lifeline blue pads that seem even better and cost next to nothing from Wiggle.

https://www.wiggle.com/?s=lifeline+brake+pads+blue

Just for perspective, I do have alloy rims on my TT bike. In the dry the braking is what I would describe as scary. In the wet the majority of the deceleration is from the screaming acting as a reverse jet thruster. And by deceleration, that only happens if the gradient is less than 2% down, any more and the screaming simply reduces the acceleration.

My point being that pads, levers and brake calipers have as much of an effect as the rim. A rim definitely can add to woes, and I fully agree that having good brakes are important (and potentially time saving) on bikes in training and in racing. But it's worth considering all the other elements first as the wheels are the most expensive bit and you may be able to get as good a system if you look at upgrades to the levers, pads, calipers.

In your experience, are the swissstop black pads the best for carbon? I’m using a stock speed concept, so I’m not sure how much upgrading I’ll be able to do over stock.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri

Roglic rode disc brakes on his gold medal ride and Vuelta TTs, didn't he?

I'll give you Pogacar for now, but have you seen anyone other than a pro cyclist sponsored by Colnago riding one of their TT bikes? Can't imagine they would bother developing a new bike. Probably just go with a rebrand if he insisted on discs.

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Go with a hed jet plus black brake track. They are great. I have them in my speed concept.

I think they do so well I don't feel a need to spend 10k for disc brake tt bike.

Citec 8000 CX, 80mm front wheel + a real disk on the back for 1600g with aluminium brake track.

I got a set of LightBicycle 55mm rims built up. Paid the extra $30 for the engraved brake track. I’m not sure rim brake stopping gets any better than this.

I’m confused. Everything I’ve read says discs are much better in the wet. Is this not true? Could it be that rim brakes would have also been terrible in those conditions?

I'm not joined at the hip with rim brakes over disc brakes, I just happen to have an older Cervelo P3C which I like very much as well as a Genesis Zero road frame that I'm fond and both are rim brake. My budget hard-tail MTB has disc brakes, they are great although the QR skewers are not a perfect match from an alignment point of view, thru axle is I'm sure much better.

On my P3C I'm using Flo 6 front and Renn 555 rear, both aluminium tracks. My braking is good even with an older Tririg Omega on the front. Like any system it can be great or rubbish depending on how well you set yourself up. I found that paying attention to cable routing was important (low compression segmented housing helps IMO in a tightly-routed TT system), and the choice of levers and pads. I've used Vision and SRAM levers, but moving to Shimano DA TT levers was a definite step-up. Tririg recommend (and supply) Kool Stop Salmon pads which work very well for me.

He left it a bit ambiguous but given the context he appears to mean a disc wheel, not a disc brake.

What tires were you riding?

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As a few others have already said, plenty of us never left aluminium rims because full carbon rims are simply a poor design choice.

The choice of carbon as a material for rims is not primarily based on engineering merit, but on the absurd obsession many people have with carbon fibre. Carbon fibre is not a magical material that makes everything better simply by being present. It does have huge benefits in a wide range of applications, especially where tensile strength to weight is of paramount importance, and it can as we all know, be used to build very strong and light structures if employed sensibly as a composite with layers of suitably oriented fibres bound together with polyester or epoxy resin. But the buying public tend to skim past everything but the name "carbon fibre". Cyclists, among others, seem to be pretty poor at recognising whether an upgrade is actually an upgrade or just a prestige thing based on ignorance.

I'm currently using rim brakes with aluminium rims on my bikes. Alloy rims with a carbon fairing on on my low drag wheels. 31mm deep alloy rims on my general purpose wheels. Both brake well with good brake pads (currently SwissStop BXPs).

I think there are arguments for and against disc brakes. It's quite likely my next bike will have discs whether by merit or market forces. However that's not imminent so I'll decide when the time comes. However, I've never seen a really strong argument for the use of entirely carbon rims with rim brakes. That's worrying considering this combo has been the prevailing choice for years which is only being challenged now due to the advent of disc brakes in road cycling.

23mm conti 5000gpx.

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@floathammerholdon | @partners_in_tri