Buy rim brake bike in 2024?

[SSCC]

I’ve ridden disc brake gravel and mountain bikes exclusively for the last 9 years. Haven’t been on a rim brake bike in 10 years. I’m doing more road riding and started thinking about buying a rim brake road bike. Or alternatively a deep section wheelset with road tyres for the gravel bike. Thoughts? Cost is about the same. 

[madmarc]

Why not ? - Rim brakes have worked for years and years and years before they decided to bring out disc brakes just to get you to buy another bike.

[splat]

In a world of N+1 bikes, another bike is the way to go.
In a world of trying to be sensible, another set of wheels would be the way to go (if you are OK with the gear range on the GG)

But, why would you go to rim brakes?
After also riding disc on the MTB and gravel, I finally switched to disc on my new roadie. 
Rim brakes were fine, when that is all you know,  but I would never go back.

But, that's just me.
Colnago and a few others are still on your side...

[nick_the_wheelbuilder]

Absolutely nothing wrong with rim brakes.
Also nothing wrong with fitting "road" wheels to your gravel bike.

The main difference between the 2 is going to be things like the frame geometry.

A decent aero carbon road wheelset will be very light (1200-1300g) and cost around R20-30k.

The decision is between buying a whole bike or just a set of wheels...

Get in touch if you want to explore wheel options.

[madmarc]

54 minutes ago, splat said:

In a world of N+1 bikes, another bike is the way to go.
In a world of trying to be sensible, another set of wheels would be the way to go (if you are OK with the gear range on the GG)

But, why would you go to rim brakes?
After also riding disc on the MTB and gravel, I finally switched to disc on my new roadie. 
Rim brakes were fine, when that is all you know,  but I would never go back.

But, that's just me.
Colnago and a few others are still on your side...

Yes - disc is perfectly acceptable on any brand, but on a NAGO it would be like kissing your sister - Taste the same but just doesnt feel right

[SSCC]

56 minutes ago, splat said:

But, why would you go to rim brakes?
After also riding disc on the MTB and gravel, I finally switched to disc on my new roadie. 
Rim brakes were fine, when that is all you know,  but I would never go back.

Mainly cost. It’s hard for me to justify spending +R50k on yet another bike which is what a decent disc road bike will cost. Decent rim brake bikes are around for R20k. But ya I hear you on how good disc brakes are. 

[Danger Dassie]

3 hours ago, SSCC said:

I’ve ridden disc brake gravel and mountain bikes exclusively for the last 9 years. Haven’t been on a rim brake bike in 10 years. I’m doing more road riding and started thinking about buying a rim brake road bike. Or alternatively a deep section wheelset with road tyres for the gravel bike. Thoughts? Cost is about the same. 

Personally, I'd go for the extra wheelset.
But, considering things like space, setup, maintenance and what you prioritise personally in balancing the convienance against how much road vs tar riding in having a spare wheelset or complete bike.

The second-hand market does have some good deals on rim brake road bikes that are up-to-date with components and geometry. Decent alloy rims and calipers that are properly setup will be more than good enough, even in the wet.

That said, I've seen some absolute bangers for the 27-37k mark on new disc road bikes. Titan Valerian (alloy) full 105 and DT Swiss Wheels, Merida Reacto (carbon) also 105 but with inhouse white label wheels etc and the Trek Enmondo alloy in similar spec. Not sure about the other brands, possibly Specialized Allez and Scott in the same vein. 

 

[NotSoBigBen]

Just some practicalities I have experienced with a 2nd wheel set

1. This was rather easy was to ensure the 'spacing' for the cassette is the same so that I didn't have to fiddle with the gears when switching between them. 

 

2. A little more complicated was whether to move the cassette between the wheels or have a cassette on each. Moving it around was a schlep, to me anyway

The problem I had with a cassette on each was, assuming a bike that's ridden a lot, the cassettes not wearing 'evenly' .... Over time it would slip on either one of the set of wheels.

 

For those who know, is there a better easier easy to handle that? 

 

Thanks

Ben

[Jewbacca]

IMHO, a 50/34 Crankset will work with road and Gravel, so I would just get that and a wheelset.

The rest is just splitting hairs. 

If you are pushing 1x on the gravel bike, then it will be less ideal.

I would also have a chain that matches the wheelset. Pop the quicklink, swap wheels, thread the chain.

OR..... get some 35c gravel slicks and just ride 1wheelset with 1 set of everything and tires that kind of do everything. 

Another bike is rad in theory, but it takes up space, maintenance, cost of spares etc... But it's all up to what kind of person you.

[NotSoBigBen]

19 minutes ago, Jewbacca said:

IMHO, a 50/34 Crankset will work with road and Gravel, so I would just get that and a wheelset.

The rest is just splitting hairs. 

If you are pushing 1x on the gravel bike, then it will be less ideal.

I would also have a chain that matches the wheelset. Pop the quicklink, swap wheels, thread the chain.

OR..... get some 35c gravel slicks and just ride 1wheelset with 1 set of everything and tires that kind of do everything. 

Another bike is rad in theory, but it takes up space, maintenance, cost of spares etc... But it's all up to what kind of person you.

Chain matching cassette, genius! 

 

Thank you 👍 

[DieselnDust]

58 minutes ago, NotSoBigBen said:

Just some practicalities I have experienced with a 2nd wheel set

1. This was rather easy was to ensure the 'spacing' for the cassette is the same so that I didn't have to fiddle with the gears when switching between them. 

 

2. A little more complicated was whether to move the cassette between the wheels or have a cassette on each. Moving it around was a schlep, to me anyway

The problem I had with a cassette on each was, assuming a bike that's ridden a lot, the cassettes not wearing 'evenly' .... Over time it would slip on either one of the set of wheels.

 

For those who know, is there a better easier easy to handle that? 

 

Thanks

Ben

cassette on each with a matching chain for the correct chain length.

ensure your rear derailleur is a long cage variety.

If 2x then as Jewwie says, 50/34, if 2x then 44 or 46 should cover with a 11-42 at the back for gravel. for road you won't need such a wide range

[Bike Dewing]

I pretty much did that.. I bought a Scott speedster 10 2018 model.. it’s never been off road so I have since had fittings to put on correct stem length and width bars and lastly I did 30mm carbon wheels and I run 28 tires on the road.. I love my bike so much.. I LOVE IT.. 😍😍😍

[Skubarra]

On 9/9/2024 at 7:57 PM, splat said:

But, why would you go to rim brakes?
After also riding disc on the MTB and gravel, I finally switched to disc on my new roadie. 
Rim brakes were fine, when that is all you know,  but I would never go back.

what he said - when you are used to disc brakes, especially on your gravel bike with a broadly similar setup to a road bike then rim brakes are an irritation because you know on your other bikes you actually can have control of your bike on steep downhills and round tight corners.

You can get great deals on rim brake bikes because the market trend is towards disc brakes. Great if the budget is tight and you can live with rim brakes for a few more years, not great if you change your mind on the brakes because your rim brake bike will be worth far less in a year or 2 and cant be upgraded to disc brakes.

 

[Mook]

52 minutes ago, Skubarra said:

what he said - when you are used to disc brakes, especially on your gravel bike with a broadly similar setup to a road bike then rim brakes are an irritation because you know on your other bikes you actually can have control of your bike on steep downhills and round tight corners.

You can get great deals on rim brake bikes because the market trend is towards disc brakes. Great if the budget is tight and you can live with rim brakes for a few more years, not great if you change your mind on the brakes because your rim brake bike will be worth far less in a year or 2 and cant be upgraded to disc brakes.

 

You are right @Skubarra, but allow me to play devil's advocate.

I'd much rather ride a top(ish) end rim brake bike, than a low end disc brake version. Rim brake road bikes will be around for many more years, albeit in lesser demand due to market trend. Components and rim brake alloy/carbon wheels will be available for as long as the chinks speak mandarin. I can use 26" wheels as an example.

I guess if you like changing bikes every 2 years, totally different story. Hell, I cannot even afford to insure my bikes, let alone spend the kind of money the market is pushing low end disc brake road bikes for.

Call me a sentimentalist  

[Meezo]

https://www.cyclingnews.com/news/colnago-launches-rim-brake-bike-in-2024/

[Meezo]

starting from R147000

https://www.colnago.com/en-gb/products/c68-rim-brake-bike