Just getting back into the tri scene after a 3-4 year break. I am thinking about getting a new TT bike and everything is disc. There are no options for rim at all anymore. Is this just the way marketing and industry is headed? I would much prefer rim over disc for simplicity of travel, maintenance, and my current knowledge. But am I just stubborn? I am also thinking of the expense to change everything over, which means new wheels, trainers, etc. But do I just need to bite the bullet and move on to disc brakes? Are they here for good? Would like some feedback from people who have been more involved.
Getting my popcorn ready.
This has been done to death.
Disc brakes are here to stay, like it or not. If you want a new bike, it will be a disc brake bike. You shouldn’t need a new trainer, you will likely just need a thru-axel adapter, assuming you’re on a smart trainer. Disc brakes are relatively low maintenance, you shouldn’t have to bleed them very often. You’ll have to do brake pads, which you have to do on a rim brake system as well. You do have to put a brake block between the calipers when the wheel isn’t on the bike, but that’s nothing. If your bike doesn’t have race wheels on it, then yes, you’ll need to buy aero wheels. There are cheap ways to do this and not cheap ways to do this. Otherwise, just embrace the future. Or don’t, and find a used rim brake tri bike on Pros Closet and enjoy rim brakes for another decade.
Single word answer… YES.
It’s like buying a new gaming computer that had terabytes of memory… but speccing it with a 486 processor because you loved the sound of a dot matrix printer churning print out.
Getting my popcorn ready.
No need really. Whether we like it or not, if you are buying a road or tri bike at the mid price point “105” level or higher - you are now buying a disc brake bike. The industry has decided for us. I’m not 1005 onboard or with this, but I just bought my first new road bike in a number of years - was shopping at the Force or Ultegra level and EVERY bike that I had on my short list had disc brakes.
My wife’s bikes - two road bikes and a TT bike are still all rim brake, but we know that her next new bike will also be a Disc Brake rig of some kind. So we have already started the conversion in our house. Jettisoning some wheel-sets that will no longer be needed/used. Getting an adaptor for my fork mount Park Tool work Stand, as well as a new holder for my bike on our Yakima roof rack.
Are they here for good?
Yes.
Less because of how “good” discs may or may not be in any given use case, than because discs are broadly considered viable for all use cases, whereas there are many sorts of bicycles or applications of bicycles where rim brakes are regarded as problematic. In other words, a manufacturer can eliminate rim brakes from a lineup without cutting themselves off from any major market segment, but the reverse isn’t true.
More types of brakes means more permutations to develop and inventory. It makes for more development cost and a more complicated supply chain. These considerations apply to both parts manufacturers and bicycle manufacturers. So there’s a lot of financial and organization incentive to ditch either rim or disc. And if you’re going to ditch one, the only real option is to stick with disc brakes.
That said, it’s still possible to put together a good rim-brake bike, and legacy support for things like brake pads will likely extend for a very very long time. I don’t think that buying a rim-brake bike right now is crazy at all, for example if you spot a good deal on the used market for a really nice bike that will fit; I would regard that as a separate question from whether discs will dominate the market.
might get some good deals on used rim brake bikes and use that money for more speed else where.
Disc brakes and now electronic shifting are the new scenario.
The upper end road groups don’t even offer cables anymore.
So, break out the wallet my friend.
Regardless, they are both good moves. I made the change over and I wouldn’t go back to rim brakes and cables. Yes they work, but so do crank down windows in a car and who makes cars like that anymore.
It’s not a bad idea as there are very good deals around, they won’t stop making brake pads anytime soon, and to your point they are easier to wrench for the average person.
Just know that your bike will have basically zero resale value, so plan to ride it into the ground then donate it.
Just getting back into the tri scene after a 3-4 year break. I am thinking about getting a new TT bike and everything is disc. There are no options for rim at all anymore. Is this just the way marketing and industry is headed? I would much prefer rim over disc for simplicity of travel, maintenance, and my current knowledge. But am I just stubborn? I am also thinking of the expense to change everything over, which means new wheels, trainers, etc. But do I just need to bite the bullet and move on to disc brakes? Are they here for good? Would like some feedback from people who have been more involved.
It depends on a bunch of things. If you can afford it, I’d go electronic/disc, but if you’re on a tight budget you can pick up some bargain bikes that have rim brakes and mech gears. Plus you can pick up decent rim brake wheelsets very cheaply. 2nd hand Zipp discs can be found for under $600. The only problem will be if you want to sell it later down the track.
Also maintenance wise, I’ve not had to touch my disc brakes.
Your trainer should be good for both rim / disc, right?
New wheels generally allow you to ride bigger tires / lower pressure and equal MUCH better ride quality to the wheels you prob used 4 years ago (23mm tires?!)
You’ll pick up maintenance w disc breaks quick. They are pretty easy once you get the hang of it. Yes, not as simple as mechanical - but they not as scary as I thought it would be
Buy whatever bike you want. I still ride a 10+ year old TT bike and it’s just fine for me. You can get a STEAL on an older p3 that’s pretty dang fast
But yes, disc is here to stay and is the future 
Unfortunately the answer is yes.
Disc brakes still have a ton of problems but there really isn’t a lot of products that supports rim brakes.
-
I would recommend running a 160 or even a 180. Reason being that you don’t need to brake power but the heat dissipation would be significantly better. 140s would put too much heat into the braking system and can cause the brakes to lock itself up due to hydraulic heat. Pretty much the same reason why MotoGP bikes run bigger brakes than Supercross bikes.
If you really do want to run smaller brakes, I would recommend mechanical or hybrid brakes like the TRP Spyre. -
I would recommend taking the bike out for a ride just to get a sense of how it rides. Some of the disc brake bikes didn’t tune their elasticity well so it can cause the bike to loose traction when braking which can cause the bikes to brake significantly worse than rim brake ones.
I’m clinging to rim brakes on my road and tri bikes for the moment but the end seems will be nigh. I don’t live in a mountainous area so I have zero advantage for reasons you pointed out. I wouldn’t hesitate buying a rim brake tri bike now if you already have wheels, trainer etc. I’d wait until there is actually an advantage to changing over or your trainer and wheels need upgrading.
an overview of your current hardware (bike, trainer, wheels…) would allow a more useful answer
.
The upper end road groups don’t even offer cables anymore.
dura ace 12 speed, sram red axs, and campy super record eps all have rim brake options for their groupsets…
I picked up a used rim brake cannondale superslice from team EF last year, and while I had some reservations about it being my only rim brake bike, I ultimately am fine with it, because it fits me well and rim brake parts will be available for a long time to come. Will my next TT bike be disc brakes? Yes, but that’s quite a ways away. If you are looking to buy a brand new bike in any category today, I would go disc. But if you’re considering used, there are many more rim brake options available at much more reasonable prices.
It really comes down to how much you care about future-proofing your setup (wheel compatibility really is the only concern, and even then there are so many wheel brands today that you’ll be able to find rim brake wheels for long to come)
there are smoking hot deals on rim brakes bikes new/used out there
yes the future maybe disc but I am not saying no to buying 50% or more discounts
I got me a almost new trek SC for 2k and I just transferred over some components and boom now I have a super bike
.
I have a 2018 TM01 rim right now but I need to switch to M/L from my current M/S. I thought I would get out cheap finding a used rim model, but they are nowhere to be found and the one I can find, is about the same as a brand new disc version, which led me to the tipping point of just making the move.
But do I just need to bite the bullet and move on to disc brakes? Are they here for good? Would like some feedback from people who have been more involved.
Buy a good used rim brake bike for cheap. Buy some Hed Jet wheels. Pick up some spare wheels if you see bargains. Ride it for 10 years… no worries.
Just know that your bike will have basically zero resale value, so plan to ride it into the ground then donate it.
I think you are wrong about that. Obsolete tech doesn’t become worthless; it may well increase in value if it is quality gear.
The other important factor is that disc brakes have no beneficial effect on speed, and so far the earlier rim brake bikes are just as fast as anything produced now.
An example of a bike that’s what… >12 years old now? The later P4s. Sort that out with good parts and take care of it, and it will still be worth something in 10 years.
A few years ago I got flack for saying that discs would be the only option soon enough, and to some extent that is true.
However as a dissenting view about rim versus disc there’s a few things to consider.
I have been in the sport for a while and I have never changed a brake pad on my now 14 year old (previous) superbike.
That’s because I have never been in a race that required the use of brakes more than the occasional hard turn and to dismount.
That includes hilly courses like Mt Tremblant. I did use the brakes twice in Kona (three if you count picking up food after the turnaround)
I will never be faster no matter what I’m on, my efforts are now based on keeping what speed I had. That’s age speaking.
So how many years have you got left in the sport, how good is the gear you’ve got (wheels) and what part of the pack do you race in.
Any rim bike you buy now is probably faster than any bike you previously had, the disc brake bike will allow you to stop faster in T2.
But it will cost you several thousand (wheels again) to find out.
Or you could buy a made to measure one piece suit, a flash wetsuit, all the carbon shoes you’ll ever need, a snazzy helmet and a bike fit.
(oh and latex inner tubes)