Tarmac Comp Black and Orange

a.palmer
a.palmer Posts: 504
edited September 2016 in Your road bikes
Had this bike a few years now, but only just made any significant changes from standard. I recently decided I wanted to put some colour on it, so got myself a new orange Astute saddle which is very nice, and matched it up with some orange cable outers and bar tape with orange peeking through the holes. Then today I got some Zuus wheels on it, which I think finish off the look very nicely. Done fiddling... for now.

Here is how she looked before
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And now (excuse the beach photos)
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Comments

  • grant2307
    grant2307 Posts: 135
    that looks sweet!
  • slowmart
    slowmart Posts: 4,474
    Tasteful and thoughtful upgrades, enjoy in good health.
    “Give a man a fish and feed him for a day. Teach a man to fish and feed him for a lifetime. Teach a man to cycle and he will realize fishing is stupid and boring”

    Desmond Tutu
  • Looks good, how are the wheels? Been tempted to get a pair.
  • a.palmer
    a.palmer Posts: 504
    Thanks guys. I have literally just got the wheels so can't give much of a thorough review. However on first inspection and ride out they seem good, and look very nice. Made sure to have a couple of powerful sprints on their first outing and they seem to be laterally stiff, no brake rubbing. Didn't experience the brake squeaking which I have read about either. The freehub is quite loud, which has at least proved useful for alerting someone standing in the cycle lane of my presence!
  • beak58
    beak58 Posts: 142
    Looks fantastic
  • a.palmer
    a.palmer Posts: 504
    I'm considering adding some black/orange bottle cages, orange skewers, orange chainring bolts or orange headset spacers. What are peoples thoughts? I don't want to go overboard, but feel like a few more orange touches would be good.
  • dov2711
    dov2711 Posts: 131
    Nice additions but wouldn't go much further,, out of interest what's the tape? I fancy something similar with a green tint but other than the scary expensive cavendish stuff it's hard to find.
  • a.palmer
    a.palmer Posts: 504
    Yes I think I agree, leaning towards the cages and possibly skewers and leaving it there. The tape is bontrager microfiber, I'm fairly sure they do it with a bright green backing too. It's nice tape, not massively padded/squishy though if that's what you like.
  • a.palmer
    a.palmer Posts: 504
    Just added new cages and skewers, photos to follow soon. The new skewers come in at 42g, vs 102g for the old pair!
  • I've just sold my 2015 Tarmac Sworks with no regrets. Being a fantastic bike I've never truly bondend with it anyway. After this "sworks" experience I realized it's absolutely pointelss to spend money for a bike someone else have specc'ed and marketed for you. Nothing gives you the pleasure of buying a mid tier frame and start to swap components YOU choose. I'm doing so with my Diverge and I'm having a blast,I can tell it's MY bike.
    Congratulations on your Tarmac,beautiful machine.
  • a.palmer
    a.palmer Posts: 504
    Some more photos now I have got the skewers and cages on. Very happy with how this looks now, and it feels much more like 'my' bike now I have given it some alterations and jazzed it up a bit.

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  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,172
    You said you had it a few years... but to me it looks like it's just come out of the shop... it is immaculate... how can you keep it so pristine year after year?
    left the forum March 2023
  • a.palmer
    a.palmer Posts: 504
    It is a fair weather bike and I verge on OCD with keeping it clean! It had a thorough cleaning when I was changing the brake and gear cables too
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Posts: 79,667
    It is absolutely lovely.

    One thing I would do is lower the stem and have it more horizontal, if at all possible. I am not a huge fan of -ve rise stems.
  • What is the stem by the way?
    Postby team47b » Sun Jun 28, 2015 11:53 am

    De Sisti wrote:
    This is one of the silliest threads I've come across. :lol:

    Recognition at last Matthew, well done!, a justified honour :D
    smithy21 wrote:

    He's right you know.
  • The stem is just a Specialized one that came on the bike. It does have a shim which allows for the angle to be changed
  • I rarely comment on the my bike section but that is a lovely, tasteful, personalisation job you've done there.

    The stem is parallel to the ground, just as it should be. Perfect aesthetics.
  • Specialized bikes don't normally float my boat but that thing is juicy. Das ist gud yah.
  • Nicely wrapped bartape, but as said above, looks like it hardly gets ridden or maybe i abuse my bikes too much :lol:
    I'm sorry you don't believe in miracles
  • Done a nice job there. Not keen on the Orange cables though. I think cables look messy at the best of times without drawing attention to them. Other than that, looks great.
    argon 18 e116 2013 Vision Metron 80
    Bianchi Oltre XR Sram Red E-tap, Fulcrum racing speed xlr
    De Rosa SK pininfarina disc
    S Works Tarmac e-tap 2017
    Rose pro sl disc
  • I can assure you it gets ridden!