Campag4life

Guys that come to a bike forum and like to talk about the sport aren't casual cyclists. We love cycling and all that goes with it. Just got in from a ride with a friend and wanted to share something that happened today. I am old and have been at this a long time and loved every minute of it. I have owned more bikes than I can count and took most of them down to the frame. Back in November 2011 after Cancellara won the Paris Roubaix on a prototype Specialized Roubaix SL3 I ordered the frameset from my local bike shop. He had never seen the bike before. I read some of the reviews and they are off the chart. After all these years...now over 7, it is still the best bike I have ever ridden. I am pretty connected to the cycling community where I live and have access to a lot of bikes and build a lot of them and help friends. I now have about 50K miles on my Roubaix SL3 Pro. It has been a love affair since I opened the frameset box. The frame is a masterpiece. Campy of course in a town where you see no Campy, only Shimano and Sram. I even put DA on the frame a few years back and off it came to put Campy back on. After all this time, the frame still with impeccable road manners is developing some galvanic corrosion in the left rear dropout. My favorite bike. I am sad about it. To me, against some backlash on the forum, to me, the Roubaix SL3 is the last of the great Roubaixs. The SL4 was too stiff in back and the Future Shock model...well that bike isn't for me. I want a race bike that rides like a BMW and not a Lincoln. Tonight after my ride on the way home I let her rip. On the flat just before home hammering by myself I hit over 30 mph. Long wheelbase, lightweight...stiff BB and chainstays...it just flies.

So I am a bit upset my bike maybe heading for oblivion as repairing galvanic corrosion between Al dropout and carbon...not uncommon, may end up retiring the frame.

But I want to share something that happened today. Every once in a while after all the time spent with the hobby...the forces of entropy and moving toward randomness and not order acting upon us making things go wrong, something very right happened. Call it fate or surrendipty. On a subconscious level, I feel my bike slipping away because it has cancer. Hard to let this bike go with so many countless fun rides with my friends. I saw a frameset replacement on Ebay. I really couldn't believe it. I really couldn't believe it after I contacted the seller. He said the frameset was essentially new and sitting in a box. Still has the stickers on it. Was built but hardly ridden. Roubaix SL3 Expert with the great 10r carbon in my size 58. Say it ain't so. I stole it. Every once in a while. If the seller is on the forum, I am beyond grateful. The frame arrived today and it is 'flawless'. As new. I paid a fraction of what I paid for basically the same frame back in late 2011. Serendipity. Astounding.

I am good friends with the head mechanic at my local bike shop. I am going to take my beloved Roubaix in to see if Specialized will warranty it. But even if they do and they may....what would I choose to replace it with? Specialized no longer makes what to me is the best bike they ever made...the Roubaix SL3 with the good carbon. English threaded BB. But, I now have a back up when the time comes to retire my bike. It still rides perfectly. Not sure how long I will trust the rear left chainstay. Cost of repair...don't think Calfee would even touch it without a donor frame with clean rear triangle.

Anyway, wanted to share both my despair of losing my favorite bike but also incredible joy of finding its replacement.

An old pic of my Roubaix and the new frame that arrived today. Thanks again to the seller. You are quite a guy and a credit to the bike hobby.

ColonelSanders

Great that you have found a replacement, sad that your old bike has cancer and from what you have said, likely can't be repaired.

cycledogg

Awesome story. I have a 2007 Cannondale SystemSix with the same symptoms in other areas of the frame. Many miles, many memories. I retired the frame and it now hangs in the bike room. Replaced with a 2015 Cannondale Evo. Good luck and enjoy the many miles this new frame shall bring.

Campag4life

Thanks Colonel and cd for allowing me to wax a bit nostalgic. I thought maybe my story would resonate a bit to others that have developed a relationship with one bike in particular they just happen to love. It checks all the right boxes. Other bikes are easier to let go. I believe you are right...likely all the great memories including travel with this bike to different places and different riding venues having been through so much with this bike. All the centuries and hammerfests with friends or just being out on a perfect day laying it down with the sun on my skin. I always felt this bike was my ace in the hole because it fit so good and took the bumps so well with so little sacrifice to speed. Buying a new Cervelo which I have written a bit about here and now putting a few hundred miles on it...will likely ride the new bike today...reminds me of just how good this Roubaix is. Yes bike tech has moved on. In another thread, a poster adroitly wrote about diminishing return. He was so right. This bike was/is Goldilocks as I was reminded yesterday. Each of us likely have a sweet spot. A pure racer may not prefer this bike and wants something even more raw. We are not all the same and why many different expressed views about bikes on this forum. I know many feel exactly the same way about their steel bikes for example. I am grateful to have owned it and have always been is awe of just how good it is having owned and ridden so many other bikes.

diphthong

sounds like you've already counted and acknowledged your blessings. there are all too many things/places/people we've enjoyed/loved/appreciated that are no longer with us/available/the same.
serendipitous indeed and prolong the magic whenever possible. enjoy your mint mickey mantle rookie card or action comics #1 . life is too short to lock stuff up in a vault-especially stuff born to be ridden.

Campag4life

I do count my blessings. Part of the aging process I suppose. I am grateful. I used to ride this bike about 20 miles out to a popular cycling park around a lake with some modest climbing and fast sections. When I would get to the park, I would sometimes stop and rest a bit and look down at this carbon work of art really...this uber lightweight device that propelled me under my own power 20 miles from home and think, this thing is pretty amazing. The creation of this lightweight machine that is so efficient which can go so fast under human power. Still feel that way and always want more.

Based upon your thoughtful words, you know that people are largely driven by their subconscious thoughts. I was never on a mission to replace this bike but when I would work on it, I always saw how it was eating away and not much I could do about it. I haven't ridden another bike I liked better. So, I started causally about a year ago looking for another SL3 Roubaix on ebay. Sure there are a lot of SL4's available. Not the same. If I could find the right SL3, I would buy it. I purely stumbled upon the best possible SL3 replacement. I have done countless bike transactions on ebay..both buying and selling bikes and parts. This is the single best find I have made. Nothing other than serendipity. There is no other explanation. My favorite bike and no finer example to replace it. I'm pretty bowled over by it. Hard to believe really and why I thought I would share the story with others that may understand.

diphthong

a specific machine/device that assists you in realizing/maximizing some of the best moments to be had in the journey of life is priceless.
something close to perfection in the rhythm/pace/speed of experiencing this thing we call life on a bicycle. i feel i currently have such a construct.
possibly the closest thing to a time machine we mortals will ever realize. reassuring to know i'm far from alone. no backup frame tho. sad face.

Rides4Beer

Glad you found a replacement! Here's to many more years and miles!

nomadmax 

@Campag4life Great post/thread; I understood and "heard" every word. That said, IMO, any bike with a frame & fork not made of steel is like falling in love with an attractive stripper. Yeah, she's good looking, can/will do things the other models can't or won't do and is one heck of a good time. BUT, if you wanna settle down to a long term relationship and build a future, there are probably better models for the purpose.

jadocs

Great story! I have to say that I like the color on the new frame better, so you really made out!

Campag4life

I failed to mention. I love strippers.
A little sidebar about the steel thing is...endurance bikes...and yes similar geometry has been around decades but carbon and really Specialized and now many companies to follow transformed this market segment. Most steel bikes...btw, I have owned 30 at least...they have what is coined 'square' geometry...i.e. seat tube length proportional to top tube length...in the case of classic roadbikes of years past you are a fan of for example...these weren't virtual lengths as the top tubes were horizontal and therefore seat tube length could be measured. For a guy like me who is long of inseam and not particularly flexible, the advent of endurance geometries was pretty transformative. This is because sloping top tubes allowed standing over bikes with taller head tubes. That is somewhat the point of endurance geometries..plus chainstays were lengthened to compensate for more trail, more slack head tube angles resulting in more weight on the rear wheel.

Steel is a great material of course. Nothing feels quite like it. The Roubaix...the SL3 in particular with 10r carbon actually goes a long way to replicate the ride of steel because its geometry helps carbon achieve that aggragate flex. That is what is uncanny about the SL3 Roubaix. It is a pair of race skis with the perfect flex to hold an edge but not take an Olympian to grab that edge.

So for me...and again, not a parallel universe for riders out there which btw as discussed promotes sometimes even acrimony discussing if not debating bikes is...there aren't a lot of steel bikes out there that fit me as well as the Roubaix. Reason is, this geometry was somewhat perfected by Specialized and also this geometry would be a bit heavier in steel as well.

So some further perspective. I have considered having a steel bike custom made in the Roubaix's dimensions. Quite sure they exist in the bicycle universe. I have seen Roubaix geometry in Ti for example...Serotta and others have made them. But the Roubaix SL3 has that elusive feel and performance. I like carbon but honestly like all materials including Aluminum.

Thanks for your comments. I haven't talked much about this dynamic on the forum but there is a reason why the nexus of carbon and endurance geometry resonates so much with average riders.

Campag4life

Thank you for that. Looks even better in person. A really cool feature of the frame is the weave of the carbon can be seen through the paint on both bikes but on the new frame it looks pretty outstanding because of the darker color. The 'pro' frameset I purchased wasn't available in a full bike. I liked its more primal look. It looks raw and it appealed and still does to my sense of aesthetic. The new frame is more pretty if you will. Not as raw or primal.

I am tickled because I lucked out with the new frame. Play the game long enough plenty of bad rolls happen and so to find a diamond in the rough like this is a very good roll. I am still in a bit of disbelief. The seller didn't even tout how good this frame was. A pretty remarkable guy really. The auction was very understated.

Trsnrtr

I had a 2005 Roubaix that had the BB liner come loose from galvanic corrosion and Spec replaced it with a 2011 Roubaix Pro SL3. Tremendous improvement over the 2005. My 2005 had Campy Daytona and I transferred it to the 2011 and then in 2014 or 15, I installed Campy Record.

Enjoy your ride! [img]images/smilies/thumb.gif[/img]

PepeM

Flip it.

Campag4life

Very cool. Also with Campy! There is like 3 Campy riders in my entire town...lol. Specialized with Campy is a rare as hen's teeth.

The design evolution companies take model year to model year searching for the holy grail is quite a figurative trip. Difference between Roubaix SL2 and SL3 was quantum. Early Roubaix's in spite of being wildly popular and helping put Specialized on the map...the SL2 was a noodle. The SL3 had life...springy like steel and stiff out of the saddle..but takes the bumps so well because of the laid out angles of the frame.
SL4 they really stiffened up the Roubaix in back and there was push back by many that didn't believe that more stiffness in back was better. No doubt some like the stiffness of the SL4.

Thanks for showing yours.

FlashBazbo

Congratulations! I also had a Roubaix SL3. Great bike. For me, it became a gateway for an SL4 Tarmac. The Tarmac just "fit" me better and I preferred its handling, but the Roubaix was my first upscale carbon bike. Not long after I bought that Roubaix, five more showed up in our small local riding group. Great bikes!

Trsnrtr

I'm old.

PepeM

I meant flip it and get a steel bike instead.

tagaproject6

That is a sexy frame!!!

Campag4life

Thanks FB. Tarmac is a bit aggressive for me. At the end of the day, I believe through trial and error we have to find what works best for each of us.
If I had the right body...aka younger and more flexible I would be on the Tarmac...a fantastic race bike.

Campag4life

A b!@tch ain't it?

Nothing good about getting old other making a point to enjoy each day more because they are more precious...but suffering on the bike isn't any longer that big of a deal.
When you get old like you and me, you suffer all the time with pain you never had when you are young.

My grandma said to me before she passed away at almost 90....you know what's good about getting old? I said, no, what's that Grandma?...expecting some kind of silver lining.
She said, "Nothing"

nomadmax 

I understand every bit of that, in the end it's what works for you AND moves your soul. I'm guessing this is one of the few places where you could get someone to understand an emotional attachment to a bicycle. I've always felt that two wheels were the wings I was never issued from the factory. Consequently, the synergy required from body and bike has caused me to feel differently about my bicycles and motorcycles than I do about any other possession. I currently own one road bike with compact geometry and it's a great bike, in fact, I'd say I'll have another in less than two years (an E road bike). Age and a bout with cancer took a lot of my ability so if using an E road bike a couple days a week to recover is what it'll take, that's what I'll do. I'd do it now but I think there's more development coming and I don't want to buy "behind" technology. BTW, I also get your love for Campy, I have an old tattoo on my arm of the Campy wheel w/ wings

I said all that to say this, I get your attachment and I'm glad you found a replacement frame

Chi_Z

Cannot go wrong with SL3, 9 years old, at least 30k miles, still going strong. Endurance frame with rim brake is harder and harder to find nowadays

Campag4life

Wow you have the coveted S-works SL3. A pretty exclusive bike you have there. I dig it.
You are right about most endurance frames going to disc brakes...boo.

What bottom bracket are you running? Are you the original owner and if so, what year did you purchase?

You have and you know well...the 'holy grail' of Roubaix SL3's with the 11r carbon. My Pro model is one step down the food chain with 10r carbon. Frame still only weighs 1000g or so.

Thanks for sharing. Cool that some of the SL3 owners are coming out. Beautiful set up you have with bars a couple of inches below the saddle. Perfect position for speed and comfort.

Chi_Z

Old HTC colorway, I am the second owner, got it from eBay around 2013, this frame uses OSBB basically a 62mm PF30 but you can use any PF30 BB out there just put some spacers on the crank. 11r is pretty sweet, the setup in the picture weights around 16.5lb in size 56 with pedals