Wanted to pick y’all’s brains about the thru axle vs quick release axles. I am looking to upgrade my TT bike which is a very entry level frame (2013 Felt B16). Is it worth spending the extra $$ to get a bike with thru axles and disc brakes? Is there much of a performance difference? I know the bike feels a bit different riding with thru axles, I am just trying to figure out which route I should go.
I’ve found a handful of secondhand bike in the $1500-3000 price range, some having TA and others have QR. I’m happy to hear y’all’s thoughts on which you prefer.
(I’ve done 1 70.3 and about to start training for a full in 2026)
Rim brakes are unfortunately considered obsolete by current and future gen bike makers. If you are going to upgrade your bike now you really have to get disc brakes - and hydraulic shimano disc brakes are awesome.
Yes, there is a massive braking difference, especially inTT bikes with poorly located rear brakes.
But the question really isn’t about thru axles… it is about disc brakes and wider wheels and tires. Those are game changers. Thru axles are just a byproduct of disc brakes.
I just upgraded from a 2012 Felt B16 to a 2017 Felt IA10. To me, I really wanted to stay with rim brakes on TT bikes. I like the mechanical simplicity of rim brakes. The B16 is still a plenty fast bike though. The only thing you’d gain with a newer bike is being able to run wider tires, and most likely a front end with more adjustability.
I don’t find need for disc brakes for triathlons, but would be beneficial for technical and/or wet conditions.
I absolute love them for gravel and MTB. I would love it for road in conditions mentioned above but I don’t ride road often.
I’d rather put money towards electronic shifting. Not really a performance benefit but I find that I ride more efficiently, especially with syncroshift. Oddly, I don’t find a need for e-shifting for gravel and MTB but that’s because 1x is good enough for places I ride.
Also if you haven’t done this, getting a good fitting first supersedes all this.
I think a lot of the no need for disk brakes/ they are awesome on a TT bike comes down to the specific frame/brakes you had. I do all my spannering, and know how to tune brakes well. Had decent brakes on some bikes, but my last rim brake bike was 100% abysmal. Racing wasn’t too bad but in training it was lethal with cars on the road, pedestrians, etc. And that was just the frame specific brakes and the specific levers. No amount of fancy cables or pad swaps made any difference. And that was with Alloy brake tracks, god help it if I’d gone to carbon. Most retardation effect came from me screaming and forcing a large volume of air forward - far more than anything from the contact of pad and rim.
Main thing is where you are with wanting to invest. If you are still at the point that you may do tri for another couple of years, then either upgrade again, or find a new hobby, then rim brakes really is a good way to go. Dirt cheap, loads of options second hand and can still get spares for most stuff. But at some point then if you stay with it all that literally goes in the bin, and you swap frames/wheels to disk.
So really it’s if you want to start that now as you are long term committed, or delay that expense.