Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL5 & History

teebs_123

I'll start off and give a brief history of my bikes and the new one, hopefully not too dull!!

Bike No 1
Specialized Allez, circa 2011. My first bike, under-maintained and under-loved. No images, but a standard red/black Allez. Sold on Ebay for £40 less than I paid brand new

Scott Foil 20
Purchased new from Epic Cycles in 2012, full Ultegra & Mavic Cosmic Carbones. Did circa 5,000 miles on the bike, sold to a friend (who later found a defect, received a replacement from Scott UK and then got invoved in a RTA which wrote the new frame off :? Lost approx. £1200 over 2 years on this bike.


Trek Madone 3.5 Ultegra
Purchased new from York Cycleworks in October 2013, full mudguards (although rubbed like hell using 25mm 4 Seasons). Served me well as a winter bike, but the 'guards/rubbing issue never went away - later changed to 23mm tyres which did solve the issue, although compromised on ride quality some what. Sold on Ebay for a £1200 loss over 2 years


Trek Emonda SL8
Purchased new from York Cycleworks in April 2015, custom built with Ultegra Di2, Chris King R45 Archetype wheels (superb) & pretty run-of-the mill finishing kit. Great bike, up hills, chaingangs, centuries, this thing did it all with no fuss. Cost me £0 in maintenance over the 2 years, replaced 1 x brake blocks and that was it. Still have the frame now and considering to build it back up with mechanical & use for long jaunts into North Yorks etc


Kinesis 4S Disc Di2
Purchased as a frameset from Westbrook Cycles in January 2016, Ultegra Di2, Hunt x Mason disc wheels, mix and match finishing kit, full SKS 'guards. Fantastic winter bike, bit heavy, but who cares in winter! Never let me down, something I'll keep for years!




S-Works Tarmac SL5
I went through many different scenarios, Colnago C60/Emonda/Domane SLR, even Canyon (but I wanted the bike this year )
Called into Sigma Sport and was sold straight away on the S-Works, so set about getting a good spec for it..;

S-Works Tarmac SL5 56cm
S-Works Seat pin
S-Works Stem (120mm)
S-Works 40cm Carbon "Hover" bars
Ultegra Di2 shifters & mechs
Quarq Dzero Power Meter & Praxis rings (replacing Powertap P1 pedals that Wiggle refunded me on)
Wheelsmith 38mm Carbon clinchers & Chris King R45 hubs
Vittoria Graphene + tyres

Superb service from Sigma Sport, great comms & competitive pricing. Not collected it yet, so needs final position tweaks and the steerer to be cut down 25-30mm.
Shop only image for now, but I'll get some decent ones up


Hope you like it!

Mr Stamp

That S-Works looks beatiful - please maintain and clean this one. Enjoy.

teebs_123

Mr Stamp wrote:

That S-Works looks beatiful - please maintain and clean this one. Enjoy.

I've learnt expensive lessons in not maintaining bikes, so this one will lead a good life!

bristolpete

Nice tarmac - I would imagine that will ride like a dream. Enjoy. Money well spent.

teebs_123

Thanks, just got it back post fit and steerer cut..

bernithebiker

Looks good.

Don't lose the little rubber bung that covers the seat post binder bolt. I've lost 2 and they're VERY hard to find!

And watch out if you take the seat post out; the binder wedge is liable to fall down the seat tube.

last part of rear brake cable could be a smidgen shorter!

teebs_123

bernithebiker wrote:

Looks good.

Don't lose the little rubber bung that covers the seat post binder bolt. I've lost 2 and they're VERY hard to find!

And watch out if you take the seat post out; the binder wedge is liable to fall down the seat tube.

last part of rear brake cable could be a smidgen shorter!

Thanks for the comments, I'd never noticed the rear cable, until now!

The Trek has been sold on Ebay, so I'm just on the Winter bike until the weather improves..

bernithebiker

What does it weigh? 6.8kg?

teebs_123

bernithebiker wrote:

What does it weigh? 6.8kg?

Not been weighed yet, but I'd say around that

teebs_123

First upgrades, stickers removed from the wheels and 25mm Conti Gp4000s2.

Hopefully maiden ride this weekend if we stay dry until then

Mr Stamp

Teebs_123 wrote:

First upgrades, stickers removed from the wheels and 25mm Conti Gp4000s2.

Hopefully maiden ride this weekend if we stay dry until then

Still a fav. Nice to see its clean.

ravey1981

How come you've swapped the the corsas out for gp4000s? The vittorias are great tyres and the tan walls suited the bike...

teebs_123

ravey1981 wrote:

How come you've swapped the the corsas out for gp4000s? The vittorias are great tyres and the tan walls suited the bike...

Just wanted a sturdier tyre for spring/early summer.

teebs_123

grant2307

Lovely bike you have, I prefer the look with the new tyres myself.

Matthewfalle

Noooo - tan walls rocked.

Please put them back on - the new ones make it look smaller and squashed.

teebs_123

The tan walls are still Sat in the garage. Might go back on for a trip to Italy in June.

Absolutely love the bike..

Flâneur

bernithebiker wrote:

Looks good.

Don't lose the little rubber bung that covers the seat post binder bolt. I've lost 2 and they're VERY hard to find!

And watch out if you take the seat post out; the binder wedge is liable to fall down the seat tube.

last part of rear brake cable could be a smidgen shorter!

Lovely bike, looks mint with it all cut to size.

@Bern You lost more of them? Since I lost my first they just seem to pop off constantly. Just shout if you need more

bernithebiker

Thanks Flaneur!

I have 2 spare at the moment, but I think I've lost 3 in total!

teebs_123

Changed the Kinesis to rim brakes and swapped over the spare wheels I had.

Here she is in bike packing mode in Belgium;