Monthly Archives: September 2024

Took the old bar tape off and hold up guys, we have a Contador fan here! The bars were double wrapped! Old bar tape was literally disintegrating (yuck!).

ENVE stem is porky.

As much as the ENVE Aero stem seems to be loved out there I personally hate the look of it, but it’s a pretty clever design that uses a sleeve to adjust angles and even position further forward or back. What I hated the most about how it looked was how it hung over the back of the fork steerer, but I think it would look better if the sleeve was flipped so the stem moves further forward. Then again it’s also the super ugly 20mm cone spacer that’s stopping the ENVE stem from looking good.

I set out to find a smaller spacer, no luck finding an 8.5mm Specialized spacer (no longer in production) but found that Ceramicspeed make one in a 4mm, and one in 8mm (they’re called Ceramicspeed headset dust covers) so I’ve ordered both. 100% sure the ENVE stem would look amazing if it was slammed with the 4mm spacer, but also sure I won’t be very comfortable at all.

Weight of the short cage derailleur I got with the bike. Not sure how much lighter it is from the long cage, but swapping out the derailleurs and puptting on a smaller and lighter rear cassette is most likely on the cards.

Went out and got some batteries today for the shifters and charged up both derailleur batteries and to my surprise everything is still hooked up and working. One battery either didn’t charge though, or it’s dead (I was freaking out as the rear derailleur wasn’t working, but when I swapped the front mech battery to the rear it works).

PS: Noticed there’s no SL6 Owners Facebook Group so I created one (if you own one, or appreciate SL6’s please join up!): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1223748342001336

I’ve been gawking at a Facebook Marketplace listing for an Italian made BASSO x MAAP Diamante rim brake bike, it’s been listed for a while now and the seller has recently reduced the price. It blows my mind that it hasn’t sold (I think it’s gorgeous enough to hang on the wall as art), then again there’s a couple of Specialized S-WORKS SL5’s for sale that also don’t seem to be selling. I suppose nobody wants a rim brake bike anymore these days?

I’m still set on a Specialized S-WORKS Tarmac SL8 frameset (I mean come on, 8 is my lucky number!), but the $9,500 asking price for the frame alone is something I just can’t swallow (and even if I could I’m not sure I love any of the currently available colours enough).

I messaged the seller of the BASSO. I hate to waste anyone’s time as I semi-knew I was 50/50 on the bike, but after a brief back and forth I told him I’d sleep on it and only bother him again if I was sure on the bike. I slept on it, then I slept on it for another night, and another, then yesterday morning a size 52 S-WORKS SL6 popped up on Marketplace.

Apparently the Specialized S-WORKS Tarmac SL6 is the last and best rim brake Tarmac Specialized have (and will) ever make (it was universally praised on launch and some even go as far as saying it’s the best rim brake bike of all). The listing was made by someone who was selling it for a friend who wasn’t on Facebook (who the hell isn’t on Facebook these days?!). The pictures weren’t great, and the seller was selling the bike along with a billion accessories; a Garmin 520, lots of tubes, C02 canisters, a spare short cage SRAM Red rear derailleur, a helmet, shoes and more (IE: it looks like the seller had quit cycling for good!).

The asking price was $4,600 negotiable. I messaged the seller, and got the phone number of the actual seller. I sent an SMS yesterday morning to say I’m interested to come look at the bike, but by late afternoon I hadn’t heard back. I called the number instead and got voice mail so I left a message, and later that night I got a call and we organised for me to come look at the bike the next morning.

This morning I drove out to check out the bike, and first impressions were GREAT! I couldn’t care less about the components, my main goal was to thoroughly look over the frame and the frame looked as good as new.

Turns out the owner was a super chatty guy. He bought the women’s frameset (it’s actually Unisex) as it was the only frame available at the time and he had the bike built up and serviced by Chris Schofield at Velo Tech Centre, then Covid hit and the bike was never ridden again. IE: He has not ridden the bike for 4 years, and the bike has been sitting in his garage gathering dust since the pandemic.

He insisted that I take the bike for a spin. All the batteries were dead, but air went into the tyres just fine, and off for a spin I went. Surprisingly the saddle height and 100mm stem felt fine. The bike was stuck in an easier gear but I tried my best to stamp out of the saddle multiple times to see if there was any creaking coming from the press-fit BB, no creaks. The sound of pads on carbon rims sure sounds wild though (terrible, actually!), but apart from the brakes, the bike felt farkin’ fast.

We ended up chatting a whole lot more about the state of bicycles, how expensive the new S-WORKS Tarmac is, and the slow death of rim brakes. I ended up showing him the listing of the BASSO that I was interested in (now dropped to $3600), and that the listing for that bike, and many other great rim brake bikes were still up with no takers. I let him know that I’m probably more of an outlier in that I like bikes that others might not be so interested in, and that for $4,600 more people would probably take a brand new SL7 Sport over his old SL6.

We started talking price, and in the end I got it for $3,900 with batteries, charger, cleats for the pedals and spare SRAM Red short derailleur (I negotiated the helmet, shoes and all other misc items out from the final sale).

Pretty happy she’s now mine!

Next step is to give her a good clean (though she’s already pretty damn clean!), replace the batteries in the shifters. I don’t own another set of road shoes for the Look cleats, so I’ll have to figure something out (maybe SPD’s for my other pair of shoes for now), replace the saddle with my S-WORKS Power saddle, maybe bin the cages for the super light AliExpress cages I have in the parts bin and then (after a few rides!) I’ll start planning a build with the aim to at the very least get the bike into the mid 6kg’s.

SPECS: 2018 Specialized S-WORKS Tarmac SL6 “Women’s” (Unisex size 52) in Satin Gloss Monocoat Black/Acid Purple/Rocket Red Fade.

GROUPSET: SRAM Red e-Tap, ROTOR 3D crankset (172.5), Power2Max Power Meter, Praxis Works Chainrings (53/39), Campagnolo Direct brake calipers, SwissStop pads, Shimano Ultegra cassette (11-32).

WHEELS & TYRES: Zipp 202 Firecrest Carbon Clinchers (32mm), Zipp Aero skewers, Continental GP 4000 S II (28mm).

COMPONENTS: ENVE Aero stem (100mm), ENVE SES Aero handlebar (420mm), Look KEO Blade Carbon pedals, Specialized Power Comp saddle, ENVE K-Edge computer mount, TWE carbon water bottle cages, Fabric bar tape.

WEIGHT:
7.47kg

OH YEAH!

I have a decent set of allen keys, but these are just so sexy and beautiful. Much thanks to Sam at CCACHE for inspiring me to get these, worth every single dollar. I love them!

Garmin EDGE 130 Plus.

I’ve finally caved and bought a bicycle computer, not for Strava, more for a speedometer than anything else (I used to use the old Cateye bicycle computers back in the day).

I ended up going with a Garmin EDGE 130 Plus. It’s affordable, tiny, has a black and white screen and weighs in at 33g. It also has the option for measuring power and heart rate if I want to go there in future.

Kocevlo vs. Specialized.

The SL7 stem plate has a hole in it which is designed for a Specialized stem accessory mount kit. In typical Specialized fashion it was going to be expensive at $71.95 AU shipped so on a whim I thought I’d buy a cheaper alternative from Kocevlobike on eBay (IE: Chinese alternative) for $27.20 AU shipped.

Turns out you get what you pay for (when will I ever learn?!). The main bolt that bolts through the mount to the back of the stem plate is too long (leaving it that way would literally have the end of the bolt damage the carbon bars) and the mount has a non-removable GoPro mount (all good if you use a GoPro but I don’t have one… yet?!).

Whilst I was installing a computer mount I thought I’d finally get the 4 black Ti bolts for the stem. CCACHE were out of black Ti bolts so I sourced some from GEAR Shop Brisbane’s online store (they’re the same weight as the OEM bolts so I assume the OEM bolts were titanium too).

Quality is night and day. Putting the computer on is perfect on the Specialized (the China one doesn’t allow the computer to click into place at all).

Oh noes… I’m becoming a roadie.

Adding weight back on the bike hurts more than it should, there’s still about 20g or so I can save from cutting the very long Hylix seatpost down, but honestly I can’t be bothered, more keen to just ride now!

PS: I also ordered a bunch of bibs, jerseys and socks off AliExpress as I’ve been avoiding buying brand name stuff (2 bibs, 2 pairs of socks and 2 jerseys for the price of one single MAAP jersey!), the company let me know that they were signed off on and delivered, but I never got them! Turns out there were mails in my spam folder from the local delivery agent, and they attached a proof of delivery photo, the doofus left the package outside on the street, and welp… the package was stolen.

Again, lesson learned. F AliExpress. I ended up putting in a $600+ order in with MAAP (one jersey, socks, gloves and bibs), ridiculously expensive but I hope the quality is great and hey I’m happier supporting local.

UPDATED SPECS: 2022 Specialized Allez Sprint Comp (size 49) in Tarmac Black/Brushed Foil

GROUPSET: SRAM RED AXS E1 rear derailleur, shifters and calipers, SRAM DUB BB, SRAM Red AXS E1 chain, SRAM RED AXS E1 cassette (10-36), SRAM RED AXS E1 crankset (160mm), SRAM X-SYNC chainring (50T).

WHEELS & TYRES: ENVE 65 Foundation wheelset, Continental AERO 111 front (29), Continental GP 5000 S TR rear (32), Galfer rotors (160mm front 140mm rear).

COMPONENTS: S-Works Tarmac SL7 stem (110mm -12 degree), Tarmac SL7 stem cable bat, stem cover kit and black Ti stem bolts, RaceWare 3D printed spacer, Specialized Roval Rapide handlebars (380mm), Burgh Lightning Bar Tape, Berk Lupina Short (132mm), Specialized carbon rail clamp, Hylix 0 offset seatpost, Xpedo Thrust SL titanium pedals, Specialized front derailleur mount cover, S-Works Carbon Rib Cage III, S-WORKS bottle cage bolts, Garmin EDGE 130 Plus, Specialized out front computer mount.

WEIGHT: 7.65kg (fully loaded with mount, computer, cage and pedals).