Specialized S Works E5 2003 - what to do?

mjatyeo

Speed read: How good is the specialized s works e5 2003 frame in this day and age? Worth upgrading components?

More information: So I recently bought this bike, thing is its been converted into a fixy (still has the hangar) - and whilst this is great for commuting at the moment, its not going to be so useful when it come to the longer rides once spring starts. (My background: rower, runner, always cycled for fun but now would like to stop it up a gear - see what I did there - so I'll be joining a club in the spring). So probably about 120-150 miles a week, aim to complete a few sportives if training goes well.

So my question is: is it worth converting back to a geared bike ( most likely an ultegra 6700, dura ace 7900 mix - from friends and ebay) or would you recommend getting a new build completely?

Apart from the lack of gears the finishing kit on the bike is great (fizik saddle, thomson post and stem and look pedals) putting gears back on would necessitate a new set of wheels though (have been looking at wiggle cosine amongst others).

So I guess the quick question is: how good is the specialized s works e5 2003 frame in this day and age?

Thanks for your help in advance, and I'm a newbie so if there is somewhere better for this to be then please do let me know.

Matt

Bobbinogs

Put it this way, I reckon the second hand value of the frameset is less than £100. I am basing that on the fact that I bought an absolute mint E5 2011 frameset (with carbon forks) a couple of years ago and the going rate then was ~£180. That was a great purchase as I swapped all my components over from another Spesh with a cracked frame and the bike has been a real treat, specially for the money and when matched with a good wheelset.

Personally though, in your case, I would probably be looking to spend something on a decent more up to date frameset and build from there, hopefully something like a recent Tarmac (same geo as the E5) but be really careful that you don't end up with a rebadged 'special'.

top_bhoy

I've got a slightly different attitude as I'm guessing that money is tight and you want this to be a relatively cheap build.

If the bike is undamaged, looks well cared for and you can get it and the upgrade parts cheap or free, I'd take a punt. I wouldn't go offering a silly price though. Build any price based on the finishing kit and wheelset only with a small additional cost included for the frameset. Worst then which can happen is you get finishing kit which would be a good start for you and you wouldn't really have lost anything.

I may be a bit biased however because I had a zebra S-Works E5 2002 frameset built with the Centaur gruppo until a car ran into me a few years back. Its loss is still lamented because I thought it was perfect for me and the likelihood is that I would still own it because I am not one for purchasing new bikes every other year. I did consider the newer E5 framesets but they do not appear to be the same geometry as the vintage S-Works E5 hence, for me, it really wasn't the same.

arlowood

From your post it's clear that you've already bought the bike and have been riding as a fixie on commuting duties.

You're going to need a different set up (or bike) for the club runs and sportives you plan next year and reading between the lines you will be working to a tightish but whatever you decide.

My advice would be to convert the Spesh back to road duties and see how you like it in that guise. If you're not happy with it then you've lost little as the components can be swapped over to another frameset.

Plenty of deals on framesets out there on Fleabay or here in the classified section. For example this is still on offer I think:-

viewtopic.php?f=40091&t=13040662

I speak from experience as I bought a 2nd hand Trek 5200 US Postal frameset a couple of years ago (this dated from 2002 and was one of the last to be built in the US - viewed as a bit of a classic despite the LA connections) and built it up with 105 components.

viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=12958886&p=18842349&hilit=Trek+5200#p18842349

Had a blast riding it until I got the disc frame bug and sold the frame on to fund a disc build.

top_bhoy

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19767814#p19767814]arlowood[/url] wrote:

From your post it's clear that you've already bought the bike and have been riding as a fixie on commuting duties.

Oops, apologies, my bad reading...

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19767814#p19767814]arlowood[/url] wrote:

My advice would be to convert the Spesh back to road duties and see how you like it in that guise. If you're not happy with it then you've lost little as the components can be swapped over to another frameset

I would agree with this; get the upgrade parts cheap and see how it goes.

mjatyeo

Thanks for all of the advice. It's been really useful. Think i've decided to go with the consensus and convert back to road duties with the current frameset and then if/when I need to change the frame i can do so.

mjatyeo

How it turned out:

viewtopic.php?f=40044&t=13042130