In the car media they do a thing where they keep track of which models are still available with manual transmissions. For example:
While the manual transmission car is clearly moribund, buoyed only by people who need you to know they’re driving one, the rim brake road bike is already dead. The hard work of burying it finally over, the bike industry is now leaning on its spade and breathing a sigh of relief.
Yes, there’s the rare exception for the “enthusiast.” For example, just as you can still order a Porsche with a stick shift, so too can you buy a Colnago with rim brakes…
…at least you can in theory, though I’d take this to mean that Colnago have made a total of five of these and sold maybe three so far:
Otherwise, of the Big Four bike companies (that’s Specialized, Trek, Cannondale, and Giant), as far as I can tell only two still offer a road bike with rim brakes. Cannondale will sell you one of these:
Or, if that doesn’t grab you, how about this identical bike from Giant?
And yes, of course there are smaller companies that still make bicycles with rim brakes, to say nothing of the custom builders. But as far as bikes the average schmuck is going to encounter whilst shopping for his first road bike, this is pretty much it.
As much as I like to complain about this state of affairs, it’s mostly just feigned outrage, since the industrywide shift to disc brakes really doesn’t affect me at all. If anything, it only makes my life easier, since not only do I have plenty of bikes and equipment, but the used marketplace is awash in bargains since fewer and fewer people even want this stuff anymore, and we’re in no danger of exhausting the world’s rim brake resources anytime soon. I mean it’s 2025 and Kool Stop still makes replacement pads for Campagnolo Delta brakes:
If anything, the only reason I’m so fixated on the disappearance of the rim brake is because it’s a fascinating example of how unaware one can be of one’s own aging, something I never appreciated until started getting old. Rim brakes still seem totally normal to me, and yet when I’m out on a ride I realize they’ve all but vanished, and I begin to understand how someone can walk around in the polyester leisure suit he’s had since the 1970s and still think he’s at the height of fashion, despite all the people laughing at him.
Even more profoundly, unbeknownst to the ancient wearer, that leisure suit has gone in and out of fashion several times since the 1970s, and among certain riders (such as the “alt” set) the rim brake still has some cachet. But alas, even when it is back in fashion the ancient wearer isn’t cool, because he’s not aware of it himself. He’s not making a clever statement; instead, he’s simply stuck in the past, and thus his sartorial choice carries no social currency. It’s similar to how everyone will fawn all over some retro-inspired custom rim brake bike at MADE, but write off the people who have always been committed to rim brakes as cranky old fusspots.
But that’s fine. In fact I’d argue there’s nothing more liberating. No longer am I in thrall to new bikes; indeed, they hold no appeal for me whatsoever. Instead, thanks to Classic Cycle, I can go back in time and play with the bikes over which I once lusted. By the way, does it make me a bad person that I kind of want this?
The Vengeance Bike will always have a place in my heart as the bike upon which I conquered dragged my ass over the Swiss Alps:
I think this one might be a little small, but it’s tough to tell when the seller uses the “I have no idea whatsoever how bike sizing works” method of measuring:
Having just gone through it myself, I now appreciate how many “vintage” bikes being sold are probably part of someone’s estate. That’s the other thing about getting old, I guess–the original owners of all the bikes you still covet are probably dead.