And minutes after writing this, this dropped:
Interestingly felt, according to the podcast on cycling tips, didnāt find a big advantage for the wide stays - if you optimise the fork & wheel. So you canāt deviate from a specific wheel, but end up as fast. ĀÆ_(ć)_/ĀÆ if it makes any difference on the road.
I wouldnāt say the firstā¦Orbea had been toying with and discussing aerodynamic advantages from wide forks and stays for years. My 2016-17 tt bike is the result of it. Admittedly they are pushing the concept to this extent so I get your drift.
I think with the new UCI tech rules coming on we are likely to see some relatively dramatic changes to aero bikes and TT bikes in 2022. Probably if the rules are coming manufacturers have been given a sneak peak so design cycles can get a jump on rules changes.
I think the way to make more use of possible advantages is wheel designā¦ Perhaps a wider wheel offers more advantages or the shape of it has to changeā¦ Unfortunately at this point that would mean custom spec wheels (perhaps by Aerocoach as I believe they can do custom widths and shapes up to a certain point).
To be honest, I donāt think the wider stays will help that much with regards to air flow over the legsā¦ I think the bigger advantage is when at yaw, the air flow that gets detached can reattach more quickly. While with the narrow forks and wheels with a thin air gap the idea is to keep the air flow attached as long as possible, this should allow it to reattach quicker is what Iāve read.
On the move to disc brakes: I must admit I am frustrated that all the manufacturere are moving away from rim brakes to disc. Ribble for instance have stoppped selling their excellent TT and Tri in rim format.
The impact is a complete change of wheels, and a decent rear disc and a couple of front wheels (windy and calm) costs a lot of money. Let alone perhaps another rear for training in without the disc. ā¦ and then you go, ah but my road bikes are rim. so do I start changing thoseā¦ I think this is a big mistake by teh manufacturers.
On cockpit set up, integration and part availability. I use 3T vola team. I recently stripped a thread in a wedge and had to order a pair from 3T in Italy (via amsterdam - thanks Brexit) - possibly the very last pair in stock. So after that its a replacement cockpit (unless I get the part repaired). I keep reading about people struggling to get parts for them manufactuterās integrated cockpits. I think they are great - but there has to be a better answer than,
- in my case discard cockpit.
- in the fully integrated solution - discard whole frame!!!
hardly environmentally friendly and recycleable (get it)
Integrated storage: I suspect there is a market out there for adding integrated storage to existing frames. I have seen some solutions, but not for mine.
I keep looking at my bike and thinking, well I could replace for something newerā¦ but the gains are minimal and the costs high, compared with aero benefits of body, stretching, quality skin suit, decent wind tunnel/aerl tuning. Oh and good trainingā¦
It is not about the bikeā¦ 
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Biggest UCI change is not with TT bike design, but what positions they are allowed to be put into. Listen to Dan Bigham or David Millar and they are saying the UK (amateur) TT scene often sees better optimised positions than UCI world tour races, because the UCI limits position, bars, etc.
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ā¦ and Boardman talks about wide forks for the track going back 10-15 years or so in his books.
The market is disagreeing with youā¦this is a trend that was driven by consumers, not the industry. Once disc bikes became widely available, and when presented with a rim brake option as well, consumers overwhelmingly chose discs. Not a surprise that it is taking longer for discs to come to TT / Tri bikes, but within the next year, everything will be discs.
trek was probably the last major holdout and the new SpeedConcepts have discs nowā¦but no release date yet (I donāt think).
Thanks PhilSJonesā¦Iāve seen the proposed changes! Of course they are subject to change.
But there will be frame design changes coming. Iām just curious to see the timeline. Iām guessing 2022 but weāll see.
However, there are some amazing deals on old bikes and wheels at the moment.
Absolutelyā¦and if you think you will hang onto a bike for a number of years, now is a great time to buy a rim-braked TT bike and wheels. Hell, I am still riding a 2009 Shiv TT w/ noseconeā¦and I know there arenāt many bikes faster than it out there.
But if you think youāll want to upgrade in a couple of years, it may not be a great option.
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If you have the money, this is likely to be the cutting edgeā¦
Iām dealing with this right now. I have a Speed Concept that is pretty maxed out in terms of position with standard/cheapish changes as I work towards next years Nationals. I was looking at upgraded cockpits, wheels, chainsets etc and realized I would be spending thousands of dollars on a rim brake bike meaning the depreciation would be more horrific than normal. After some hemming and hawing and being fortunate to be in a place that I can do so, I broke down and put a deposit on a disk brake frameset to base my build on so that the other investments I make for it will have some longevity.
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Disc brakes might not be faster on a TT bike, yet. But they allow for concepts like Hope or the Factor Slick.
Also, I completely believe that we have hardly scraped the surface of disc brake aero potential. Concepts like the Revolver Troika Max are a good start.
Most wheels are not yet developed for disc brake primarily.
Wide tubeless rims benefit from disc brakes already
I wouldnt buy a new bike with rims anymore, but if i had one id sure be on the lookout for bargain wheels if i didnt already have some though
Disc brake disc wheels are few and far between though, and only really the super expensive options are available. My bike is built on the cheap
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A wheel cover will solve the issue of no disc-disc wheelsā¦.and very cheaply too.
not UCI legal though
Iāve done some reading on this and I think it comes down to the official on the days interpretation. If you wanted to do it Iād make sure it looked super tidy, use double sided tape not gaffe tape and get to bike check early.
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While an individual official may allow it, its technically illegal as its an attached aero device, which is not allowed.
Every rule is open to the individual officials interpretation, but its definitely not UCI legal in any way