Me and my buddy both bought the cheapest with 105 and mavic cosmic wheels. We just upgraded the wheels, he got zipp 808 and I got Unaas team 80. Both of us very happy with our bikes. Bike split in Kalmar 2019, 4.54 and 4.30...

These are my thoughts on your decision...coming off just getting the order confirmation on my new CF 8 SLX Disc that will ship next week.

If you are in the market for the best bang for your buck, what is the used market like for high-end bikes in your area that meet your fit coordinates? If you got a bike that has the right set up in terms of the crank length, wheels, bar etc, you could really save a lot of money.

If you are looking to buy new, and across the 3 broad ranges of the new Speedmax, the CFR offers no bang for its buck, but sure is a sweet machine for those with the desire/means to spend so much on a bike. The SLX Di2 ultegra for me was the right price point and right bike...replacing my almost 8 year old P5. Given how much I love tri and riding my tri bike, and how long I keep my bikes, for me, this was a great "bang for my buck." I fully recognize that with the right set up, the lower priced CF disc could be just as fast, but I love look the integration on the SLX disc offers and do not mind spending the money for it. (And I get it, others will prefer to invest in models that just focus on performance with lower costs)

The CF disc frames are just as fast as the previous SLX model, so it comes down to price. You are right about future proof with disc brakes...already new wheel sets such as DT Swiss's ARC are only coming in disc wheel versions. Depends on how long you want to keep a bike, but at some point, they do need replacing and buying a non-disc version of a tri bike today is not going to be a deal breaker.

Ultimately, best bang for your buck is probably in the used market if you have the patience to find exactly the right bike that fits all your needs.

Agree with previous poster, best bang for buck is on used bikes.

If you can, buy electronic shifting, especially on a tri bike it brings more comfort. I would first look for electronic shifting and then for disc brakes.

Have you looked at the p-series from cervelo? You can find it new with di2 and disc brakes for a bit cheaper than the Speedmax CF Di2 SL Disc (around USD 5000), downside it has no power meter. Both bikes are solid bikes.

I am in the same position than you, just bought my first tri bike for my first IM in 2021. I was able to find a good offer on a BMC Timemachine Disc for the same price as the Speedmax CF Di2 SL Disc (around USD 5700 instead of USD 7500, but last year's model), so have a good look.

This may be a bit late, but here's a short comparison between the newest Speedmax and the prior version:

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Two questions
When’s the race
When can Canyon deliver
Having dealt with Canyon many years ago I seem to remember an extensive wait for my frame that was supposedly in stock?
And that was just for a frame and forks.

I also seem to remember getting a decent discount for sending proof of a race license which sweetened the experience of not getting what I wanted on the promised date.

Out the the box the disc and rim models don't have the same geometry to differences in how Canyon spec'd the front end. To their credit Canyon makes this very easy to work out by providing 'pad stack' and 'pad reach' numbers in addition to the frame stack and reach numbers. You can replace cockpit on either bike to meet your needs but you would want to factor that in to the price.

I bring this up because I fit very nicely into the size S rim option but would really struggle on the disc options. I am sure others will be in the opposite camp and the geometry of the disc will fit them better. At a minimum you really need to check the sizes with the size L rim brake models being almost like a size up from the rims e.g. the size L rim bike will fit like the size M disc bike.