I was just on a ride with one of my friends going to Kona. He has a 15 year old rim brake TT bike and was toying between going all in on new tech, or just go with the final edition of high end rim brake aero bikes in the second hand market (and keep using existing wheels). Also he is not sure he wants to keep doing Ironman, so the 5 year old high end rim brake bike would meet his sweet spot of price vs performance.
What do you all recommend? Assume budget end up being around $3K
I can’t imagine you’ll find anything with new tech that will fall within that 3k budget. Honestly what top tier old tech are you going to find which fits that either? Would he just be hoping to find a frameset that he can swap components onto?
I would think that you can get 5-6 year old rim brake full bikes that you used to cost in the range of $7K to $10K for around $3K just because the rim brake platform is effectively obsolete at the high end. It would depend on build but you can always play around with that. But of the rim brake tech from say 2019, what models would some of you sugges (let’s assume he can find a good deal from a seller and park price on the sidelines of the discussion).
If you’re going that route, I’d probably just get a p5 or speed concept. Maybe the tririg onmi if you can find one, although i doubt you can, not super common bike.
This is where this new “Road Cycling” sub-forum confounds me. With the exception of the stupid UCI rules, TT bikes have much more in common with the bike leg of Triathlons than Road Racing or Crits. Yes???/
What size does he need
I’ve got a p2 (it’s older than 5 yrs) in 58 that’s upgraded w tririg cockpit / brakes, zipp 808 + disc
I’d sell for that price range
Your friend can maybe build a bike out? I saw a 2015-16 Cannondale Slice frame on eBay for about $500, NOS. I know that’s outside of the 5 year range you ask about. But how much have frames really changed in the last, say, 8-10 years? They look a bi6t different now, but in terms of performance?
Your friend will be faster on a 15yr old high end, position optimized rim brake Tri bike than a new unoptimized lower end bike. I would spend my money on bike fit, *hemet, cockpit and maybe a few key upgrades rather than newer frame or gears. With the exception of the 4k climb to Hawi, he will be in maybe 3 of his higher gears the whole day. Sit up a few times out of your aero bars and you have negated the marginal gains one will get from frame shapes. IMHO.
I have a large Trek Speed Concept (last rim brake model) with SRAM AXS id be willing to sell. I find it hard to believe the new disc brake bikes are faster.