TT with disc brakes

So, some of you will have kept tabs on these. I’m pondering switching so I can just run disc brakes on my race wheels.

Class A:
Latest new models, the drool section.

Class B:
What’s actually out there being used and coming up for 2nd hand grabs? Seen some P3x and even a P5 disc (non-x) but they 2nd hand around the £5k marker. Surely some of the Trek etc will drop soon? Or are we on the £1500 china-copy frame market?

These would probably help my woeful downhill skills but there will be a few about in the next 6 months as the dentists and southerners buy the new improved 2022 model.

I’d hang on a touch

You could look at Quintana Roo and their PR5 disc

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Is that still Dan Empfield, though?
He’s a bona fide prick and won’t be getting another click or penny from me.

So these are all the new models. Didn’t know Storck had one but can also add the Pina Bollide to that list if you want dentist pricing.

I guess they are all too new to filter down yet. Road bikes are starting to have a lot of budget disc brake models, thought TTs would have somewhat started catching up by now but perhaps not.

Might need to wait until there is a Speedmax Disc since it’s still my favourite looking TT.

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I wouldn’t buy a Chinese copy frame but would have no problem buying a Chinese open mould frame. Many brands use open mould frames with a paint job and decals.

Cervelo p series bikes are a bit lower in price than a lot of the other disc brake TT bike I’ve seen

https://www.triuk.com/Triathlon-Bikes/Cervelo/P_Series-Disc-105-2020-White-or-Light-Grey/370703

https://www.triuk.com/Triathlon-Bikes/Cervelo/P_Series-Disc-Ultegra-2020-White-or-Light-Grey/370707

Love the sales speak:

26g faster than P3 bare and, 18g faster loaded

I guess speed is relative.

No, he sold QR many years ago.

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Personal preference but I think a disc with a disc looks a bit stupid

100% agree.

For TT bikes, I don’t believe disc brakes are required, at all.
Look at the courses we’re doing - massive descents, erm, NOPE!

Those TRP aero front brakes, or a TriRig omega (or even those silly front brakes where they are mounted within the fork) should be aero enough, right?

Then the rear brake is housed underneath the BB - are people still doing that?

This ensures the brakes are either aero, or totally out of the way, plus, all of the cables can then be internally routed, too.

EDIT: Just like the Giant Trinity Advanced Pro from 2019, that looks ace 8)

Matts P3X looks tasty - different breed of bike though!

But then disc brakes have never been about being aero?

They’re about stopping power. If you have courses like Nice 70.3 Worlds last year, some people wanted the security of discs, so a TT disc brake bike will give you that. With not many available, a few on here used road bikes from memory.

Says he who just bought a new road bike with rim brakes :wink:
(In the same way you did, I came to same conclusion last year)

Apart from Nice, what other course would warrant disc brakes?
I have never once thought “Oh, if I had disc brakes, this would be so much better”

Anyways…getting off topic - time to get back to ebay hunting…

I sold my rim brake P2 and bought a Venge Pro with discs. I love it. But then I live in Yorkshire so it’s mostly wet, poor roads, and lots of hills. I wanted a speedy bike for TTs, Draft Tris, and general riding.

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I think that Disc brakes are actually more useful on a TT bike than a road bike. In my experience, aero brakes on TT bike are pretty poor, while calipers on a road bike are very good. My latest build with a set of SRAM AXS rim brakes has stunning stopping power, excellent modulation and they don’t shriek like discs.

I am a triathlete, meaning I race whatever the weather. I want my TT bike to stop, even when I am riding full speed, in the rain with deep rim carbon wheels. If its raining and I am on my road bike, I am probably taking it a little more cautiously, or riding a bike more suited to the rain

Hmm…as triathlon doesn’t pay my bills, work does, if it’s raining and looking sketchy, I’d go a little slower and try to get home alive, or with all of my skin intact.

What’s the SRAM AXS rim brakes on?
Also, have you tried the Mavic Exalith rims and brake combo?
Wondering if they’d be comparable to discs?

(Also, did a google - the aero benefit is negligible of disc vs rim, so…)

Isn’t the aero advantage with disc brakes (and Di2/eTap) that you can hide all the wiring and hoses away? I’m sure that was the logic behind the Venge going disc-only and one of the reasons why Specialized reckoned the disc version was more aero than its’ predecessor.

Re Mavic Exalith rims, I found them great in dry weather and slightly wet conditions, but in heavy rain they were awful. You’d get no braking at all and then they’d suddenly grab. I did a night ride years ago and most of us were riding the same team bikes with Exalith braking and we descended off Beachy Head into Eastbourne in the pouring rain and it was terrifying because none of us had proper braking.

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Cheers for that!
So…a bike with hidden cables, say a BMC road machine, but rim brakes, could be more aero than one with disc brakes?

Prime BlackEdition 28 Carbon Wheelset, on a Cervelo R5, They have a textured rim like the Mavic, and really great braking. They make a really nice noise when braking, and in the dry have excellent modulation, like a disc, they require very little pressure on the leaver (I am using R9000 Dura Ace levers). Not tried on any long technical descents, and not tried in the wet.

Once racing I lose the ability to go anything other than as fast as I can

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