deepakvrao

I know the pros/cons have been done to death, but this is a different question. Do you think groupset manufacturers will continue to sell rim brake sets for say the next 5-10 years?

I am committing to rim brakes for a bike, and want to be able to upgrade the groupset. It's a titanium frame that I can see myself keeping for quite a while.

I already see that Di2 rim groupsets seem to be not so easy to get.

GlennR

I think it's more related to the bike manufacturers. It's more expensive to make 2 versions of the same frame and some are already only offering disc versions. Now of sub $1000 bikes where both rim and disc are cable operated... you might still have a choice.

Kind of like trying to get a car with a manual transmission.

datlas 

I expect they will be around for several more years. And if for some reason they become scarce, you could find NOS of current groupsets for several more years. The combined effects should get you 10+ years.

Seattle Forrest

He's asking if he'll be able to get a new transmission for the car he'll already have.

GlennR

I restore air cooled VWs and you can still rebuild a 50 year old transmission.

But it's unclear if the OP wants to buy them now of be able to buy them in the future.

mrblue

I think manufacturers will continue to offer rim brakes for quite some time, at least I feel Shimano will. I mean, you can still get an 8 speed Shimano Claris groupset. However, the caveat I think you'll need to keep in mind is, in the future, if you want rim brakes, you may need to downgrade. In other words, let's assume you have Dura Ace with rim brakes now. Perhaps in a few/several years Shimano will stop offering Dura Ace as a rim brake option and instead you may have to settle for Ultegra or 105. With "trickle down" technology that's not necessarily a "downgrade," so to speak. Today's Ultegra is more or less (at least on paper) on par with yesterday's Dura Ace, and on, and on down the line...

Iride01 

I too worry that as the years go by, choices of rims and rim brake wheel sets will get fewer and fewer. Certainly no big advances in materials or technology unless it super easily can be applied to the manufacture of something that will have a small market share.

But who really knows. Hopefully we can at least just buy a new bike with whatever the latest tech trend is.

Germanrazor

I see them fading out of existence as from the standpoint of being manufactured but as a matter of finding “old” parts like we do for vintage muscle cars, will be out there. It will eventually get so scarce and eventually hard to find.

The stand by manufacturers to gravitate toward disc has taken off quickly. So quick that it is dismaying to me. I am okay with the option but don’t do away from old school minds like mine who like rim brakes.

Sy Reene

Rim brakes ain't dead yet.. as long as some pros or teams still opt to run them

https://cyclingtips.com/2020/08/wout...rakes-so-what/

sced

As a practical matter, rim brakes will be around forever on Ebay. I have bikes with 1, 10, 30 and 40 year-old rim brakes and they all work fine.

colnago62

I think some of it also might have to do with World Pro Tour riders are asking for, also. At least the star riders. Sagan one year for Paris Roubaix opted for rim brakes in case of a wheel change. He QR was faster. Contedor wanted the lightest bike possible, so he opted for rim brakes.

merlinextraligh

I hear that, and it’s true. However have you tried to find a 10 speed Shimano brifter recently? I think at some point you’re going to being scrounging for a depleted stock of used and NOS. How fast that happens is open to debate.

Fortunately, I’ll likely be pushing up daisies before the supply is exhausted.

deepakvrao

Want to buy rim di2 now, and lots of stores have only disc in stock. So, was wondering about when replacement time comes for the groupset, say 3 years down.

aliasfox

Brake calipers are easy. If you can’t get Dura Ace, you might still be able to get 105. And if that fails, Tektro will likely be able to supply calipers for a few more decades.

I would be more worried about brake/shifter combos.

Seattle Forrest

I remember being disappointed more than ten years ago that you couldn't get a road bike with disc brakes, only a cross bike. It's been a long time coming, for them to reach ubiquity. Really shocking that people resisted.

thecycleclinic

If you only buy the bigger brands then yes rim brake models will disappear but smaller brands will maintain them. Likewise there will always be small rim brake manufanurers as there now and companies like tektro/trp.

besides there used frames.

WhyFi

With mechanical disc brakes, this wouldn't concern me, unless you're specifically looking up-market; I could see Shimano eventually going hydro-only for Ultegra/DA but leaving 105 as an option for cable-actuated shifting and brakes, though I think that's a generation or more away. Then again, I could also see Shimano continuing with hydro only as they move on to 12-speed but keeping 11-speed mech/rim in lower quantity legacy production.

WhyFi

I don't know about other regions, but I believe that, by law in the US, they have to have parts available for at least 7 years after the product is discontinued.

jon c. 

I'm riding a 30 year old bike and hopefully have another 25 years of riding left in me. I have no fear that parts will become unavailable in that time. A given manufacturer may end their line, but compatible parts will always be there.

datlas 

I see Microshift in my future. Possibly.

topflightpro

Yes, you will still be able to get rim brakes, but as others have said, your choices for new options will be limited, and they will likely be of lower quality.

Use V-brakes as an example. Twenty years ago, V-brakes dominated the MTB market before Discs. Now, only lower end mountain bikes still use V-brakes. My nephews, for example, have kids mountain bikes with V-brakes. They aren't great brakes; so I went looking to replace them with something better, like Avid SD-7s. (Those were pretty solid V-brakes about 15 years ago.) They're not available. In fact, pretty much the only options available new are comparable to what came on their bikes. Even the eBay selection was spotty - I would have to buy two sets. Can't upgrade one and not the others.

Ferrouscious 

I'm not as worried about the groupset availability as much as the rims themselves. In a few years, there will be no bikes sold with rim brakes. Even big box bikes feature discs now. I have a couple extra rims in my garage, but what happens after that? At least Kool Stop will have pads for years to come.

sced

Stock up on what you think you'll need. It will be a good investment even if you don't end up using it because you'll be able to sell it for big bucks. Plus, places like Velo Orange and China will help us out.

tyrion

The decrease in variety/availability of rim brake rims would concern me more than the brakes themselves.

79pmooney

I have zero inside information but I cannot imagine Campagnolo dropping rim brakes while star pros are still asking for them (and big races are being won on them).