RIP the rim brake? Check out 57 of the best rim brake bikes

Is the rim brake dead? From the list of bikes we’ve pulled together below, that’s definitely not the case, but it is clear that disc brake bikes are becoming the main choice for a lot of brands and several retailers list more disc brake bikes for sale than rim brake bikes.

The disc versus rim brake topic is one that sets forums and social media networks ablaze with passionate supporters of each system. But what if you prefer rims brakes and are wondering what your options are for a new road bike in 2021?

Bike makers that still offer rim-brake bikes

• Specialized
• Giant
• Trek
• Boardman
• Ribble
• Orbea
• Merida
• Bianchi
• Canyon
• BMC
• Decathlon

We’ve had a scout around and pulled together a list of rim brake bikes still being offered. It’s clear that at the higher-end rim brakes appear to be dwindling with the very newest road bikes being designed entirely around disc brakes, but the lower the price the more rim brake choices increase.

Up to about £1,500 many road bikes are still using rim brakes, but the more you spend the more disc brakes become an increasingly common sight. The price of disc brakes has got lower since they were first introduced in about 2013 with the high-end tech being trickled down to lower-priced groupsets.

Will we eventually see rim brakes wiped out completely? A couple of years ago we'd have said probably not, but they’re already becoming quite scarce. As long as the professionals are using rim brakes then bike brands will continue to offer rim brake bikes but in the last couple of years discs have been in the majority in the peloton. Maybe we'll see the pendulum swing back next year though, as both the Tour de France and the Giro d'Italia were won this year on rim-braked bikes.

As far back as 2015 bike brands have been pushing their comfort-focused endurance bikes onto disc brakes. Giant was the first to develop its Defy entirely around disc brakes, and today finding an endurance bike with rim brakes is increasingly difficult. And the same is happening with the latest breed of aero road bikes, the likes of the Specalized Tarmac and Cannondale SystemSix are only offered with disc brakes.

The biggest choice of rim brakes are found on entry-level all-round road bikes, the likes of Giant’s Contend or Cannondale’s CAAD Optimo, for example.

Your choices

Specialized

Specialized is offering just three road bikes with rim brakes in 2021, and they're all variants of the entry-level Allez road bike. The Allez, Allez Sport and Allez Elite have rim brakes … and that's your lot from the Big S.

Giant

Things are a bit better at Giant. Its Defy endurance bike might be disc-only, but there are still versions of the Propel aero bike with rim brakes, plus the latest TCR Advanced, Giant's lightweight all-round road bike.

Here's the most, erm, advanced of Giant's rim-brake offerings, the Ultegra-equipped version of the TCR Advanced Pro.

Like Specialized, Giant also offers entry-level models with rim brakes, in the ContendSL and Contend models. The range starts with the brilliantly red Contend 2, above.

Trek

If you want a high-level rim-braked Trek, you're going to have to build it yourself. The Wisconsin-based brand still offers Madone, Emonda and Domane framesets that'll take rim brakes, but just one solitary complete bike, the entry-level Domane AL2, above.

Boardman

Boardman's got two models for you if you're on a limited budget and after a rim-braked bike, both in men's and women's configurations. The carbon fibre SLR 8.9 Carbon, above, is frankly astonishing value at a thousand quid with Shimano 105 gearing, and the SLR 8.6 follows the long-standing Boardman tradition of a well-equipped aluminium frame for a very good price.

Ribble

British brand Ribble offers four ranges of bikes with rim brakes, the R872, Endurance SL and Endurance SL R in carbon fibre and the Endurance 725 in Reynolds 725 heat-treated chromoly steel. That's the Endurance SL Sport up above the listing, in a rather splendid teal. Ribble will paint your bike in any colour scheme you like if their stock colours don't suit your taste.

Proving that steel is not only still real but worthy of being hung with top-class components, here's the Endurance 725 Pro with Ribble's own Level 40 carbon fibre wheels and a Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset.

Very keen pricing makes the R872 one of Ribble's most popular models, and it can't hurt that it comes in red, which as any fule kno is the fastest colour.

Orbea

Basque country brand Orbea is another that's trimmed its rim-brake offering down to a single model, the Avant H30.

Merida

Like many brands, Merida has stopped putting 'Disc' in the names of its disc-braked bikes because they're the majority. Instead, the two Merida bikes with rim brakes are designated 'Rim'.

Bianchi

You’d expect a heritage brand like Bianchi to still offer rim brakes, and indeed it does, although its formerly rim-brake-only Specialissima is now available in a disc version, and if you want one with rim brakes you'll have to build it yourself from a frame; there's no complete bike on offer.

Nevertheless, Bianchi tops the price list here with the latest Oltre XR4 up there which will set you back a cool six grand in its Ultegra Di2 incarnation.

If your finances are more modest, check out the aero-framed Aria, above, which has had a visual makeover for 2021. Check out the iridescent colour option on the disc-brake version too.

Finally there's the Sprint, which Bianchi bills as a sort of My First Race Bike, and we can't think of a more appropriate colour than Celeste if you're hoping to follow in the wheeltracks of Coppi.

Canyon

Canyon doesn’t disappoint rim brake fans with a decent selection of models across its Endurace, Ultimate and Aeroad ranges.

However, there's sadly no longer a rim-brake version of the flagship Ultimate CFR; the range tops out at the Ultimate CF SLX 9.0 Di2, up there above the listing.

The rim-brake offering in the Aeroad aero bike is down to just one bike too: the Aeroad CF SL 7, above.

If your aim is long rides in comfort, though, then the good news is you've plenty of options in the Endurace line. Above is the Endurace CF 7.0 with a full 105 groupset, for example.

And of course there are a couple of aluminium-framed Enduraces as well, like the Endurace AL 7.0 above.

BMC

Previous versions of BMC's Teammachine were available in disc or rim-brake configurations thanks to some clever frame design, but the latest incarnation is disc only, leaving just one aluminium-framed bike in the line with rim brakes.

Decathlon

Decathlon offers a wide range of rim-braked bikes in its Van Rysel, Triban and B'Twin ranges, including the just-introduced EDR 940 CF, above, a Dura-Ace-equipped sportive bike at a very good price for its spec.

Other highlights of the range include the Van Rysel Ultra CF Potenza, above, one of very, very few road bikes on the market with a complete Campagnolo groupset, and the Van Rysel EDR AF Ultegra, below, with a similarly rare combination of an aluminium frame and Shimano Ultegra groupset.

Read more: The stuff they never tell you about disc brakes