Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL4 Build

hobbot
hobbot Posts: 37
edited May 2014 in Your road bikes
Here is few pictures of my off-season road bike project. As of today I have ridden the bike a good deal and am very happy with it, it is way lighter than my other bikes and has that "jumpy" feeling to it.

The build was not that complicated, but I had to be careful with keeping the cable sheaths in place to make cable routing easy.

More details and pictures can be found here

Specialized-S-Works-Tarmac2.jpg
Specialized-S-Works-Tarmac-fizik2.jpg
Specialized-S-Works-Tarmac-sram_crank3.jpg
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Comments

  • littledove44
    littledove44 Posts: 871
    Nice one.

    Being a newbie I have never seen front brakes behind the forks.

    Why?
  • diamonddog
    diamonddog Posts: 3,426
    Very tasty.
  • zx6man
    zx6man Posts: 1,092
    littledove44 wrote:
    Nice one.

    Being a newbie I have never seen front brakes behind the forks.

    Why?

    Seen it before myself on a TT bike.

    http://www.cyclingweekly.co.uk/news/lat ... graal.html
  • upperoilcan
    upperoilcan Posts: 1,180
    That my friend is lovely !! Good work.
    Cervelo S5 Ultegra Di2.
  • edhornby
    edhornby Posts: 1,741
    you mention it has that 'jumpy feel' to it... the fork is on backwards. brake should be at the front (do a google image search for tarmac sl4 and you'll see what I mean)

    easy to resolve, just unclamp the stem and spin it round and tighten the bolts back up
    "I get paid to make other people suffer on my wheel, how good is that"
    --Jens Voight
  • zx6man
    zx6man Posts: 1,092
    Fork is the correct way round.

    http://www.thetristore.com/product/spec ... -blue.aspx
  • andytee87
    andytee87 Posts: 414
    zx6man wrote:
    Fork is the correct way round.

    http://www.thetristore.com/product/spec ... -blue.aspx

    Bike looks great! Just a question, most of the sl4 builds I've seen have the front brake at the front, did you rear mount because you could, or was there another reason? I like it btw
  • mattv
    mattv Posts: 992
    That's an interesting brake arrangement. Although it is designed to function behind the fork, it may still be the cause of the judder.
    Great looking bike by the way! That colour looks much better than in the brochure.
  • DiscoBoy
    DiscoBoy Posts: 905
    It would seem that this frame/fork can be built with the brake in front or behind the fork.

    This seems an odd inclusion for a non-aero framset.
    Red bikes are the fastest.
  • Paul 8v
    Paul 8v Posts: 5,458
    Marginal gains innit ;-) That frame colour scheme is great, nice to see a splash of colour and the chainring bolts compliment it nicely.

    How about some KCNC jockey wheels at the back in blue at some point?
    Road
    MTB
    NEW Cross
    Track/Grass Track/Winter bike
  • hobbot
    hobbot Posts: 37
    littledove44 wrote:
    Nice one.

    Being a newbie I have never seen front brakes behind the forks.

    Why?

    This is really a Tire Trial brake, hidden behind the fork for better aerodynamics. I just had it, so decided to try it on.
    Some other road bikes have similar stock configuration, check out Giant Propel.

    giant-propel3.jpg
  • hobbot
    hobbot Posts: 37
    andytee87 wrote:
    zx6man wrote:
    Fork is the correct way round.

    http://www.thetristore.com/product/spec ... -blue.aspx

    Bike looks great! Just a question, most of the sl4 builds I've seen have the front brake at the front, did you rear mount because you could, or was there another reason? I like it btw

    Thanks. Just because I could. It works Ok so far, even though for the race season I will probably mount a regular DA caliper.
  • hobbot
    hobbot Posts: 37
    Paul 8v wrote:
    Marginal gains innit ;-) That frame colour scheme is great, nice to see a splash of colour and the chainring bolts compliment it nicely.
    How about some KCNC jockey wheels at the back in blue at some point?

    Could be for KCNC, never tried them before. Hawk Racing are very good - first hand experience, also confirmed by frictionfacts.com.
  • mekong_velo
    mekong_velo Posts: 102
    Very very nice, as mentioned already looks better in the flesh than in the brochure. The cable run to where you have installed the front brake detracts from a very fine looking machine IMHO.

    Wasn't too keen on the 2014 SL4's colour schemes, but you have changed my mind. Enjoy.

    Do you know the overall weight ?


    Regards
    Cervelo R3
    Tarmac Elite
  • Vandiesel
    Vandiesel Posts: 506
    Ansome, very ansome!
    Giant TCR Composite 3
  • bucks
    bucks Posts: 91
    This is a beatuiful frame.

    I just look at the front brake and think why...

    the tarmac is not an aero bike, and you are gaining absolutely nothing from having it mounted like that other than bodging how to bike was designed to be set up.

    I just don't get it
  • Calpol
    Calpol Posts: 1,039
    Very, Very nice. I presume 60mm wheels. To my eye they are the only bit I don't like. 40-50mm is the sweetspot for me but thats nitpicking on what is a beautiful bike.
  • hobbot
    hobbot Posts: 37
    thanks. Actually those are Enve 65s. I also have old Zipp 404s with alloy braking surface, so I liked the Enves better.
  • hobbot
    hobbot Posts: 37
    Mekong Velo wrote:
    Very very nice, as mentioned already looks better in the flesh than in the brochure. The cable run to where you have installed the front brake detracts from a very fine looking machine IMHO.

    Wasn't too keen on the 2014 SL4's colour schemes, but you have changed my mind. Enjoy.

    Do you know the overall weight ?


    Regards

    As a 190lbs rider I don't really weigh my bikes.. :D but it is definitely the lightest frame I ever had or ridden. That would include CAAD10s, top of the line Giant, Neil Pryde Alize and some others
  • the_fuggler
    the_fuggler Posts: 1,228
    Like it!
    FCN 3 / 4
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    Very nice - love the colour scheme; I have a 2012 Sworks SL4, but I think I prefer your colours…!

    I would recommend the Sworks chain set. It matches the bike, looks great, and it's very light and stiff.
  • hobbot
    hobbot Posts: 37
    bernithebiker wrote:
    Very nice - love the colour scheme; I have a 2012 Sworks SL4, but I think I prefer your colours…!

    I would recommend the Sworks chain set. It matches the bike, looks great, and it's very light and stiff.

    Thanks, I will consider this!
  • Markjaspi
    Markjaspi Posts: 729
    Awesome, also the DA9000 version on the link, wish I could source some of those jockey wheels for 11speed in the UK though, they would be nice on mine.
    Cipollini Bond
    Pinarello GAN
  • hobbot
    hobbot Posts: 37
    Markjaspi wrote:
    Awesome, also the DA9000 version on the link, wish I could source some of those jockey wheels for 11speed in the UK though, they would be nice on mine.

    ebay?
  • Markjaspi
    Markjaspi Posts: 729
    No sorry I mean the hawk racing pulleys, or similar suitable for 11 speed!
    Cipollini Bond
    Pinarello GAN
  • Biking_bears
    Biking_bears Posts: 11
    Awesome steed
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    hobbot wrote:
    Markjaspi wrote:
    Awesome, also the DA9000 version on the link, wish I could source some of those jockey wheels for 11speed in the UK though, they would be nice on mine.

    ebay?

    Wow. $50 for two plastic pulley wheels? Someone somewhere's making some hefty margin.
  • FoldingJoe
    FoldingJoe Posts: 1,327
    hobbot wrote:
    bernithebiker wrote:
    Very nice - love the colour scheme; I have a 2012 Sworks SL4, but I think I prefer your colours…!

    I would recommend the Sworks chain set. It matches the bike, looks great, and it's very light and stiff.

    Thanks, I will consider this!

    I've got a set of S-Works crank arms if you are interested (came off my S-Works that used to belong to Matteo Trentin [slight name drop there]). They have Red rings on them though, not the S-Works ones, but you can take the cranks if you want them.

    Lee
    Little boy to Obama: "My Dad says that you read all our emails"
    Obama to little boy: "He's not your real Dad"

    Kona Honky Tonk for sale: http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=40090&t=13000807
  • bernithebiker
    bernithebiker Posts: 4,148
    Excellent cranks; which year are they? Because the design changed in about 2011/2012 to make them lighter. Generally, if you can see the carbon weave and it tightens together with an Allen bolt (as opposed to Torx), it's the old model.
  • hobbot
    hobbot Posts: 37
    bernithebiker wrote:
    Excellent cranks; which year are they? Because the design changed in about 2011/2012 to make them lighter. Generally, if you can see the carbon weave and it tightens together with an Allen bolt (as opposed to Torx), it's the old model.

    Thanks, sounds like the older model with Allen bolt and weave. I bought them in early 2012, so they were produced probably in 2011.

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