I saw the most epic bike today

mallorcajeff

Went for a ride today and there is a shop in palma always stacked with top level kit and saw a bike that was so nice its got me thinking of changing. Looked on the web to see what model it was but cant find it.
It was a Spech Venge but was built up with Lightweight weels 80mm and Campag EPS and every other top bit of kit you can find. The bit i dont get was it looked like a ltd model the frame was all black except a few bars of colour red a yellow and somethign else and had matchign saddle, both with a signature on it but couldnt work out what it said? Any ideas? Stunning machine. They had a shiv with lightweight disc wheel, supersix evo and C59 with Eps all in one little bit of the window! seems no crisis in spain where this shop is bloody hell.

Tried to take a picture but only had iphone with me and the reflection made a black bike impossible to see.

declan1

It wasn't the Mclaren Venge was it?



Or maybe a Tom Boonen special edition?

super_prestige

There are a limeted number of Venge`s with EPS in the Specialized Concept Stores in the UK at a mere £11000.00 :shock: :shock:

Found it
http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.u ... spx?id=586

mallorcajeff

That was it the boonen ltd edition. Jesus it looks amazng in the flesh way better than the pics. Im off there next week to have a look at it, amazing bit of kit.
thanks

simon_masterson

Just to be clear, this is a good looking bike.

ugo.santalucia

Simon Masterson wrote:

Just to be clear, this is a good looking bike.

Indeed... Is that Chorus?

simon_masterson

It's a mixture, according to the page it's from... http://velospace.org/node/39895

tetley10

The spesh concept is lovely but that Mcclaren Venge is absolutely filthy. Stroll on.

Lycra-Byka

Simon Masterson wrote:

Just to be clear, this is a good looking bike.

IMHO

Yes, 20 years ago maybe. Probably a great bike even by today's standards, don't get me wrong.
Personally, aesthetically it is hideous. Steel tubing never looks much different from bike to bike (the reason that puts me off titanium although it ticks all other boxes for me)
Some of the frames produced in carbon just have the most beautiful lines. And of course they look fast! Maybe that is the problem for some people? The fact that most modern bikes scream performance and sometimes don't have it to match the looks. A bit like a tubby chav in a track suit.

Please don't hate me.

The venge looks like some sort of black panther and the holdsworth... I'm sorry it looks like a can of irn-bru

tetley10

Lycra-Byka wrote:

Simon Masterson wrote:

Just to be clear, this is a good looking bike.

IMHO

Yes, 20 years ago maybe. Probably a great bike even by today's standards, don't get me wrong.
Personally, aesthetically it is hideous. Steel tubing never looks much different from bike to bike (the reason that puts me off titanium although it ticks all other boxes for me)
Some of the frames produced in carbon just have the most beautiful lines. And of course they look fast! Maybe that is the problem for some people? The fact that most modern bikes scream performance and sometimes don't have it to match the looks. A bit like a tubby chav in a track suit.

Please don't hate me.

The venge looks like some sort of black panther and the holdsworth... I'm sorry it looks like a can of irn-bru

What made from girders?? :P

super_prestige

declan1 wrote:

It wasn't the Mclaren Venge was it?



Or maybe a Tom Boonen special edition?

Back on topic, is this available in the uk, i know the Chester Specialized store doesnt have one.

charlie_potatoes

Simon Masterson wrote:

Just to be clear, this is a good looking bike.

The same cannot be said for the brickwork. Fletton Rustic Antique. The ugliest brick in the world

andi1363

Or maybe this for somewhat less!
http://www.alibaba.com/product-gs/55425 ... arbon.html

MountainMonster

Personally I think the older frames look rather boring and soulless. They are just tubes welded together, and while they may ride just as well, based on aesthetic reasons I wouldn't consider owning one. On the other hand these Venges look so amazing!

rolf_f

Venges are a bit like Honda NSXs - you can't help but admire them but there's really no soul to them. It's not a bike I'd give a second glance to (infact, I'd quite possibly not notice it in the first place!).

Lycra-Byka

Rolf F wrote:

Venges are a bit like Honda NSXs - you can't help but admire them but there's really no soul to them. It's not a bike I'd give a second glance to (infact, I'd quite possibly not notice it in the first place!).

Just because it's old doesn't mean it has soul.
What is soul anyway?

Is it a passion injected juring the build phase? Modern frames (carbon) may be mass produced but they were also mass produced 'back in the day'

Yes a lot were handmade where machines could not be afforded, nowadays I read handmade as ' could contain human mistakes during build'

Modern bikes go through such vigorous testing during the design and prototype stage that even the budget ones don't differ that much. Yes the market is saturated in corparate companies but this just pushes innovation further and faster.
I guess the imperfections make the soul of the machine do they?

rolf_f

Lycra-Byka wrote:

Rolf F wrote:

Venges are a bit like Honda NSXs - you can't help but admire them but there's really no soul to them. It's not a bike I'd give a second glance to (infact, I'd quite possibly not notice it in the first place!).

Just because it's old doesn't mean it has soul.
What is soul anyway?

Actually, I haven't commented on whether I think old bikes have soul and modern ones do not. All I said was that the Venge is an impressive piece of kit that somehow lacks something - it's a bit dull really to me though I can see why people like them. And yes, the touch of man (or lack of it) has something to do with that. Something that is just banged out of a mould every five seconds does lack something and maybe the soul is in the imperfections.

I like my modern bikes and my old bikes. I suppose though I just can't be bothered to spend several £k on a bike frame that took a few minutes for a machine to make however good it might be.

As for innovation - law of diminishing returns applies. The last innovation of any importance was probably the carbon monocoque frame and before that the integrated brake and shifter. Then you probably have to go back to the slant parallelogram dereilleur of Suntour in the early 70s for something of real importance (maybe the clipless pedal deserves a place in there too). Innovation is overstated. Most of it is twiddling with the details. There's no real innovation in a Venge.

Lycra-Byka

Ok maybe not innovation- progression yes.

I know that when going up that horrid/beautiful hill Im not thinking about soul, I'm thinking I wish someone with a computer could design a bike to make this a bit easier. Although saying all this if you don't like the look of the bike you won't enjoy it as much.

Rose tinted spectacles in some cases

mallorcajeff

i think half the enjoyment of todays bikes is how they look (for me anyway) The new versus the old thing I just dont get what people like about the old e-type jag I think the thing is pig ugly and some people say its the best lookign thing in the world. Each to their own I guess. For me its the ferrari F430 all day long.

If you see that boonen built up you would be hard pushed to not think christ that looks good. I will go look at it next week and see if i can get some cheeky pics but its hanging up high in the shop with about 4 frames stacked against it so its not very easy.

desweller

mallorcajeff wrote:

i think half the enjoyment of todays bikes is how they look (for me anyway) The new versus the old thing I just dont get what people like about the old e-type jag I think the thing is pig ugly and some people say its the best lookign thing in the world. Each to their own I guess. For me its the ferrari F430 all day long.

If you see that boonen built up you would be hard pushed to not think christ that looks good. I will go look at it next week and see if i can get some cheeky pics but its hanging up high in the shop with about 4 frames stacked against it so its not very easy.

To me, as an engineer, I can admire the sophistication of a mass-produced product and the manufacturing technology of that product, but I love nothing more than to craft something with my hands. A truly skilled machinist on a machine tool, driving the precision of the tool without having a CNC in between or even a digital readout is a special skill and held by few nowadays. I guess that's why I feel these skills hold value.

As for my favourite car it has to be the Alfa Romea Tipo 33 Stradale...knocks a F430 into a cocked hat IMO lol.

mallorcajeff

thats is a pretty alfa granted. For me the f430 wingmirrors are a work of art, driving it is amazing, having said that though I still prefer riding my bike to driving supercars. Well its 2013 now time for bike shopping i think.

napoleond

I could be tempted to Spesh with a Venge...

verylonglegs

This is one of those discussions that could run forever. I personally find the curved top tubes of all the Specialized models awful, I couldn't own one for as long as alternatives are available.

poppit

mallorcajeff wrote:

Went for a ride today and there is a shop in palma always stacked with top level kit and saw a bike that was so nice its got me thinking of changing. Looked on the web to see what model it was but cant find it.
It was a Spech Venge but was built up with Lightweight weels 80mm and Campag EPS and every other top bit of kit you can find. The bit i dont get was it looked like a ltd model the frame was all black except a few bars of colour red a yellow and somethign else and had matchign saddle, both with a signature on it but couldnt work out what it said? Any ideas? Stunning machine. They had a shiv with lightweight disc wheel, supersix evo and C59 with Eps all in one little bit of the window! seems no crisis in spain where this shop is bloody hell.

Tried to take a picture but only had iphone with me and the reflection made a black bike impossible to see.

Which shop was it and where, never seem to be able to find a good one in Palma, we're there in May so wouldn't mind a look.

rolf_f

Lycra-Byka wrote:

Ok maybe not innovation- progression yes.

I know that when going up that horrid/beautiful hill Im not thinking about soul, I'm thinking I wish someone with a computer could design a bike to make this a bit easier. Although saying all this if you don't like the look of the bike you won't enjoy it as much.

Rose tinted spectacles in some cases

Oh I know where you are coming from there - my Raleigh is not dissimilar to that Holdsworth and every climb I make on it I feel sure would be easier on my Carbon bikes. But then I am never sure if that is simply down to the big hard gears on the Raliegh or that maybe I always understimate the terrain I ride the Raleigh on (that bike lives in West Sussex rather than West Yorkshire and the two aren't as widely split in terms of difficult as I sometimes think). My (much heavier) Dawes Horizon seems easier on the hills and that does have the gears for it. Gears counts for more than weight - even on climbs.

But there we are talking over 30 years of development. That Venge would make no difference at all to how easier you found the hill to climb than any other +£1k carbon road bike available today.

mk1markfalkirk

I don't think even if I were a lottery winner I could ride a 10k+ bike. I'm sure they are awesome but its just not right.

It'd be like driving a matt black Lamborghini Murcielago, You'd look like a twat!

8k maybe though

MountainMonster

A matt black Lamborghini is amazing, how do you look like a fool?

Strith

MountainMonster wrote:

A matt black Lamborghini is amazing, how do you look like a fool?

Just by being in a lamborghini.

Like the venge tho. Holdsworth just looks dull, like most steel bikes imo

fast as fupp

MountainMonster wrote:

A matt black Lamborghini is amazing, how do you look like a fool?

er.....like.... BIG CAR....small c0ck

MountainMonster

Hmmmm, I hear jealousy speaking.

mk1markfalkirk

No, not at all, I just think its excessive.