Or will they become a niche, but still serviced aspect. I ask because to road and tri, a rim brake bike is lighter, more aero, and usually cheaper, while the braking and tire clearence benefits of discs are fairly meaningless. Still, discs march on due to rise in gravel, a marginal amount of improved braking, and simply being “the next thing”. If you had a a top-of-the-line rim brake bike, would you worry about the tech not being upgradable one day, e.g. Shimano’s next groupset has no rim option, and wheel manufacturing is only disc. I am in the position of starting my bike purchasing life, and would it be foolish to bring in old tech rather than start with the future with tech that will be supported OEM in 10 years?
If you had a a top-of-the-line rim brake bike, would you worry about the tech not being upgradable one day?Are there any top of the line rim brake bikes even on the market? If you are buying new right now, I do not that that many rim brake options even exist in higher-end bikes. I think that the industry transition to disc brakes is essential done.
But to answer your question, if you bought an older rim brake bike, you will be able to purchase replacement parts (pads, cables, even brakes) for many years to come.
Do you think in ten year, items like the brakes, levers, and wheel sets will become hard to source?
If you had a a top-of-the-line rim brake bike, would you worry about the tech not being upgradable one day?Are there any top of the line rim brake bikes even on the market? If you are buying new right now, I do not that that many rim brake options even exist in higher-end bikes. I think that the industry transition to disc brakes is essential done.
But to answer your question, if you bought an older rim brake bike, you will be able to purchase replacement parts (pads, cables, even brakes) for many years to come.
Also long as there are brand new starter bikes at Walmart with rim brakes, there will be rim brake parts available
Probably no worries in 10 years. There are millions of high-end rim brake bikes in the world now, and they will not all go away immediately. There will be a healthy market for routine replacement parts for a long time. And there is always eBay for parts (like calipers or brake levers) that may be out of manufacture.
I ask because to road and tri, a rim brake bike is lighter, more aero, and usually cheaper, while the braking and tire clearence benefits of discs are fairly meaningless.This belief may not be true. The reason is that most bike design R&D over the past few years has been on disc bikes. Therefore, they are likely to be more aero than their prior generation counterparts. The extra clearance possible between wheels and frame & fork elements are more aero. And the braking advantage is very real in less than ideal conditions.
If your goal is to buy the fastest bike, then a high-end disc bike is likely to be faster.
Rim brakes are probably easier to break down for travel and service.
not to worry. There will be plenty of rim brake parts for years. Niche retro-grouch bike retailers like Rivendell and Velo Orange will keep this stuff alive. QR rim brake wheelsets may become harder to find but rims and hubs will be available for years for someone to build up a wheelset for you.
I have a mid-90’s bike with a TTT quill stem. Even though high-end quill stems have been gone for years, you can still get NOS ones on the electronic bay.
Whilst not freely available I recently replaced a 9sp sti shifter and have an 8 speed MTB hardtail still that’s 22 years old. My race bike is 10 speed.
And so my point there is that all this stuff was superceded more than 10 years ago. So if your time horizon is 10 years you have no worries at all. If it’s 20 then I reckon you are still fine. Sure you won’t perhaps have dura ace branded rim pads, but you’ll have some pads you can use, and in 20 years time if you are still using that bike it’s not because you want the very lightest bleeding edge performance.
You can still get bike parts for penny farthings, sturmey archer hub bikes from the 1950s with rod brakes. So you are fine for the rest of your life.
I ask because to road and tri, a rim brake bike is lighter, more aero, and usually cheaper, while the braking and tire clearence benefits of discs are fairly meaningless.This belief may not be true. The reason is that most bike design R&D over the past few years has been on disc bikes. Therefore, they are likely to be more aero than their prior generation counterparts. The extra clearance possible between wheels and frame & fork elements are more aero. And the braking advantage is very real in less than ideal conditions.
If your goal is to buy the fastest bike, then a high-end disc bike is likely to be faster.
Rim brakes are probably easier to break down for travel and service.
Are you aware of any disc brakes that are lighter than rim brakes?
Yes, they will die. Not because of consumers, but manufacturers. And in less than 5 years, I bet the standard disc brake will change forcing every one to upgrade yet again.
Are you aware of any disc brakes that are lighter than rim brakes?Good starter Gotcha! question, but let’s pivot your thinking a bit. Disc brakes are heaver than rim brakes. But the question to ask is “how much does that actually matter?”
Do you know of any high-end road bikes that cannot get to the UCI-minimum weight because of disc brakes?
Weight is generally not relevant on TT bikes, so while there could be a weight difference, it would not make a material performance difference on a TT bike. (They already weight a ton anyway.)
Concern about disc brake weight is asking the wrong question or focusing on the wrong thing.
Are you aware of any disc brakes that are lighter than rim brakes?Good starter Gotcha! question, but let’s pivot your thinking a bit. Disc brakes are heaver than rim brakes. But the question to ask is “how much does that actually matter?”
Do you know of any high-end road bikes that cannot get to the UCI-minimum weight because of disc brakes?
Weight is generally not relevant on TT bikes, so while there could be a weight difference, it would not make a material performance difference on a TT bike. (They already weight a ton anyway.)
Concern about disc brake weight is asking the wrong question or focusing on the wrong thing.
I was only simply questioning your response in that the weight belief may not be true.
I am in the position of starting my bike purchasing life
Ok, then it is understandable that you are not aware that, even if you buy the most technologically advanced and expensive bike available now, in less than ten years you will convince yourself that you need a new bike.
I can see you going either way and not regretting it. Rim brake bikes are easier to service on your own and you will be able to find rim brake high end wheels for many years, likely at a great price. HED still makes their black track rim brake wheels. Not the lightest, but probably the best braking surface out there for rim brakes.
If you do go disc brake, I wouldn’t be surprised if the braking system does change in 7ish years. Maybe not.
But, getting parts and wheels won’t be an issue. As someone else said, MILLIONS of rim brake bikes are out there.
I am buying a 6 speed chain tonight for my trainer bike (an ancient Cannondale). Not at some retro grouch website - at REI. Rim brakes and spare parts? Your children will be able to buy them, no worries.
I won’t dispute much of your evaluation of disc brakes other than “tire clearance benefits of discs are fairly meaningless.” That one reason is why I have pretty much gone all disc on all bikes except my old P2C. Tire clearance and the ability to swap wheels easily between bikes is the best part of disc brakes. Swapping out 700/29er with 650b/27.5 takes about a minute and I am on my way. Skinny rims vs. wider one? Not a problem.
I would imagine there is probably some incredible value in high-end used bikes with rim brakes right now, with high quality wheels to match. If all you care about is road and mild gravel then you will be fine, but if you want big tire clearance, then doing that with old rim brakes will be problematic (because I despise cantis and v-brakes).
I have a 2017 Scott foil RC built with top end components, including etap, zipp 404 NSW. It weighs 6825 grams. An aero road bike at the UCI weight limit.
I have just built a Scott Addict RC Supersonic frame, again with top end components, including etap and zipp 303s. It is proving really difficult to go under 7000 grams, without going to weight saving boutique parts. A state of the art climber that is giving 200 grams to her aero sibling.
Which one is faster? My guess is that the only case where the 9000 euro addict will beat the 5000 euro foil is in extreme descents in the wet. And I guess similar thing can be said about other brands.
In a nutshell, we have been forced by the bike industry to buy slower bikes at almost twice the price. Nicer looking though…
…while the braking and tire clearence benefits of discs are fairly meaningless.
Unless you live somewhere where it rains.
Or if the tri you are racing in has an interesting course with plenty of beds and junctions.
Or don’t like to replace your £2k+ wheels because the rims are worn out.
Do you think in ten year, items like the brakes, levers, and wheel sets will become hard to source?
They are all hard to source right now !!
…while the braking and tire clearence benefits of discs are fairly meaningless.
Unless you live somewhere where it rains.
Or if the tri you are racing in has an interesting course with plenty of beds and junctions.
Or don’t like to replace your £2k+ wheels because the rims are worn out.
Scariest moment of life was flying around some of those descents in St. George last year on carbon clinchers… I swore to myself the next tri bike I purchase will have disc brakes.