lsberrios1 

Hello guys,

I have not posted here in a while but I guess I am coming back to being excited about riding. I've been in the dark for a while with some pretty drastic life changes over the last year and a half.

I've had a few bikes since I started riding. Each one has felt fairly different than the last. I started riding in July 26th, 2012. I bought a Felt z85 and it was a fairly nice bike but it didn't take 500 miles to destroy the bottom bracket. Actually broke it twice over 1000 miles.

Then I decided I liked riding. I had lost about 30 pounds from 230 to 200. I wanted a new shinny carbon bike. I got myself a 2013 Roubaix Expert. This bike has been fantastic and I still own it today. It's turned into my trusty steed for rainy days, off the beaten path and also a stationary trainer bike since it has the quarq power meter.

By the time I decided it was time for a real race bike I had lost 70 pounds. I was now at 160 from a previous 230. I started racing, my neck could hold for more than an hour at a time and my flexibility had improved, so I ended up buying a 2013 TCR Advanced SL. It was the Rabobank version, with dura ace 9000, Enve 3.4 and all carbon accessories. It was my dream build. Raced it for a season but decided to retire it after a crash made me concerned about such a nice frame being destroyed. I finished the season racing my Roubaix.

2015 comes around, now I have a team sponsored by my wife's company and I am starting to gather extra sponsors. The local bike shop hooks us up with Giant for a sponsor and the team ends up putting an order of 10 bikes. The new TCR. I bought an SL2 with ultegra but quickly switched to the Dura Ace. I have been racing that bike this year and I have to say it's a magnificent bike. It is a now a frankenbike or what I call a mutt. It has specialized saddle and bars. Fugly orange specialized tape. It's been beat since last august. Bike weighs 15.2 pounds with power tap power meter. Fantastic bike.. maybe too much for me.

So lately i've been lusting for a bike that touches my heart. Yes, the tcr is a fantastic all rounder, light, extremely stiff and fast. However, I wanted something that made me smile on the occasional ride. The bike shop that sponsors my team has a very nice stock of specialized and some of my teammates were doing custom builds just for occasional weekend rides. I caught on and decided to go for a custom dream build.

Two weeks ago I set myself to buy a bike for the weekend. A bike that will only ride in sunny days, in perfect conditions and in safe environments. A bike to ride on the best roads around. I got myself a new Tarmac S Works. I particularly opted for the frameset that the Astana team used in 2015. Here are the details of the build.

* 2016 Specialized S-Works Tarmac Astana
* 2016 Campagnolo Super Record 11
* KMC 11SL Gold Chain
* FSA K-Force seatpost
* FSA OSB99 Stem 110mm
* FSA K Force Compact Handlebar
* Specialized S-Works Power Saddle
* Look Keo Blade 2
* Mavic Ksyrium Pro Carbon SL Tubulars

I also got some accessories to go with it

* Specialized S-Works Sub6 Shoes (red)
* Specialized S-Works Prevail (Astana)
* Rapha Classic Bib and Jersey Black and white (coming soon)

I am extremely excited to have it built and on the road. I think that this is the epitome of cycling for me. It's a bike that is even rare among pros. I will eventually buy an Italian frame just because I believe that I need to own one one day (italian wife so very involved in the passion of it). I just haven't found a real italian bike other than the C60 which is basically a taiwan made bike (just like the S-works). My feelings are I will end up with a Colnago Master with CLX tubing.

Anyways, I would like to hear S-Works owner's experiences. Is it worth it? Do the bikes ride as good as they look in the grand tours? Doesn't matter if Venge, Roubaix or Tarmac. Give me your feedback!

Bonus Photo: This is the team I began with a few friends has grown to something I never thought would happen ! Cheers to cycling and the people who've helped me get there.

anotherbrian

Sounds nice. And awesome stoke. But why limit it to sunny days and perfect conditions? Ride it. And if you must, wipe the dirt/dust off of it afterwards. An S-Works Tarmac isn't fitting of a garage queen.

dvdslw

Boy, I wish I had an extra $10,000 laying around to buy a dream bike! Sounds great!

Campag4life

What's goin' on bro? You haven't posted in some time and good to hear from you. As I recall, you got down to your racing weight a while back. Why the blow up? Unbelievable. I have never weighed 25 lbs more than my current riding weight of 172...I am over 6'...so always hard to believe a cyclist as good as you are can ever put on that much weight. You still riding motorcycles?

As to bikes, you probably know that a new Sworks Tarmac will be no faster than a late model TCR...latter being a premier race bike. However, the Sworks Tarmac is about as close to the holy grail of race bikes as there is...but a pretty even playing field at the top.

Me personally if dropping $10K on a top of world race bike? There is but one king of the hill. The new Madone...has Domane seat post pivot...uber aero and stiff.....available in H1 or H2 geometry...I would go H2 and you probably H1. This bike is the new gold standard in race bikes because it has compliance + stiffness where it matters + very aero. Beats the new Venge VIAS as well including in the looks department....more compliant, about as aero.

So if going big Luis, go big. New Madone. Build it with Campy or maybe even try new Sram e-Tap.

Other caveat is...the 2016 Sworks Tarmac comes with BB30. Pretty incompatible with a Campy UT SR crank unless you go with Praxis BB. Word up there.

Let us know what you decide. You have my vote and I'm a Spesh guy...but new Madone is too good to refuse...checks all the boxes and sexy looking ta boot.

State of the art Madone:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tsri7rkAbao

mpath

If you haven't already done so, don't overlook Passoni, Nevi, or maybe a custom geometry Pegoretti.

lsberrios1 

Well this particular build for me is somewhat of a garage queen. I feel the same way about my TCR Rabobank just because I feel it is a special bike. I still have 4 others bikes that I can ride on wet days and to races. No need to mess up my really pretty one.

Good to hear from you! Yes I've been off for a bit. A lot of work and some unexpected things coming my way.

I have already bought everything and I have it here at home. I was not going for performance but rather ride feel. To this day I still love how my Roubaix feels. It's a fun bike to ride. I think the Tarmac will be a quicker / more responsive roubaix. I wanted the tarmac to be the opposite of my TCR. My TCR is built to be an extremely fast and practical race bike, I want this bike to have a bit more passion. Not faster, but different. I think this build will be impressive as we expect it to be in the mid 13 pounds.

I do like the madonne but the shop I ride for does not carry them. I know that one of my teammates went from a Madonne Project One to a TCR SL and he says he misses nothing but the Bontrager wheels and saddle. He actually likes the TCR better.

As for the bottom bracket, I got a praxis conversion BB. The bike should be built and ready to ride by tomorrow .. Hope you are doing well and riding tons!



I will buy an italian bike and I expect to go buy it in Italy, pick it up, ride the alps and come back home. I'll give it a few years since I've bought too many bikes in the past two years. When the time comes I'll definitely take a look at all those nice custom italian builds and let my wife choose . Originally I was looking at the C60 Tricolore.

Silvercivic27

Where did you come up with the C60 being made in Taiwan?

Also, what about a Cipollini or a Divo?

lsberrios1 

The tubing for the c60 comes from taiwan, it then is assembled in Italy and painted. I like the Cippo but not really italian flare, I have no idea about Divo. I feel like high end taiwan bikes are just as good as any italian built carbon bike. I think I may go steel if I end up buying an italian frame.

Silvercivic27

How do you know the tubing is from Taiwan?

lsberrios1 

how do you know it's not? I've got my sources. there is nothing wrong with it though. Pinarello does the same. There are very few bikes that aren't carbon sourced from Taiwan, Japan or France. Nothing wrong with any of those.

Campag4life

Wow!...a beauty Luis. If I were a bit more flexible, I would be on a Tarmac. Cool paint scheme. I too am a big fan of the Roubaix and what I ride and yes, riding a lot...pretty much everyday. Honestly, I believe a lot of the difference between top tier bikes is feel more than speed....with friends on so many different bikes and wheelsets.
Once you get it built up...be sure to post some pics and a ride report.
Best of luck

StanSeven

That's right. Colnago used to have their tubing made by an Italian subcontractor called ATR Composites. ATR went out of business just after the C60 started and C60 tubing now comes fromToray, a Japanese company. What's funny is Toray has many factories in other countries but a lot of the cycling production in in China.

Silvercivic27

That's exactly what I mean, though...what exactly are these sources, and are they credible or is all this just speculation? Also, just because one or more models is made from carbon from other countries does not mean the C60 is.

Silvercivic27

im not saying it is not...I don't know. I just want to know how YOU are so sure.

lsberrios1 

Yup, there is nothing wrong with outsourced carbon, I don't think italians could produce the same quality frames for nearly the price.

StanSeven

It's on Competitive Cyclist website. I was thinking about getting a C60 and went into some detail.

grwoolf

I'm also a big specialized fan, but when I got the itch to replace my current Tarmac SL4 pro, I ended up going with the Madone (built up from frame 2 weeks ago).

I was originally going to do an s-works Tarmac, but I just couldn't deny the madone after riding them back to back. That said, I'd still give a slight overall ride edge to the S-works Tarmac. So, if you don't care about aero or the hidden cables and integrated bars, the S-works Tarmac is the way to go. It's just a great frame and still the best all-around non-aero race bike in my opinion. Congrats on the new build.

The madone/tarmac comparison isn't totally fair in some ways. Specialized would argue it should be Venge vs. Madone, but I think that's a losing battle with the current Venge. Will the madone also cut into Tarmac sales? That's debatable, but it did for me (even though the Madone frame was much more $). I've always liked the idea of an aero bike, but I was never willing to compromise the ride quality or braking on my primary race bike. The madone's ride is different than a Tarmac, but it's outstanding and the braking is excellent as well. There is zero compromise with the new madone, it would be outstanding even without the aero aspect.

I have 5 specialized bikes and I'm still a fan (including shoes and saddles, etc.), but the Madone is just a much better bike than the new Venge. One of my other road bikes is an S-works roubaix sl4 and it's not going anywhere soon.

Campag4life

grwolf...Congrats on the new Madone. As I recall you have been or still are a Roubaix owner...if memory serves.
Any pics of your new Madone?...what wheels and groupset you go with?

Btw, have you noticed any difference in speed for the routes you ride between any of your bikes? thanks

grwoolf

No pics handy, but I did a project 1 frame-only build in matte white with minimal logos (boring, but a bit stealthy looking). Zipp 404's and ultegra di2 came over from my tarmac (which now has my old 10 speed red and will be up for sale soon).

Pretty much all rides have been group rides and a few races. Does it feel faster? Yes. How much of that is "new bike" speed? Hard to say. Trek claims around 20 extra watts at 40k/h compared to their Edmonda with same wheels. The math says that's good for around .5mph. Even if it's half of that, it's worth it for me.

The last race was last Thursday and ended with me over the handlebars at 30+mph with my head breaking the fall. Bike was relatively unscathed with a derailleur, hanger, and rear tire ruined. No riding for me for a bit while I work through a concussion.

Chandne

Congrats! I too have been on a Roubaix Expert SL4 and just recently build up a S-Works Tarmac with tubeless tires. I don't know if it is the tubeless tires or what but it is smoother than my Roubaix on almost all smoother roads (most around me). It is not as stable obviously, so you have to be a bit more focused but it is smooth and fast and just a bit special. It hurt spending that kind of cash, but I'm glad I got it. Have fun!

Campag4life

Sorry to learn of your crash. Dangerous hobby.
Glad you survived...bad things can happen at that speed.

In case you haven't seen this...which gives each of us pause...how mortal each of are...even among elite racers.
Sad day for Belgium who has had their share of tragedy recently:
Cycling Death Deja Vu: Heart Attack Kills Second Belgian Biker

garysol1 

What year Madone? I am interested in hearing how a 2016 Madone with ISO Speed would compare to the S-W Tarmac as far as ride quality goes.

grwoolf

It's a 16. In a straight line over rough road, I'd give the Madone a significant ride advantage. As a bigger guy, I love to power over rough sections and the Madone is super planted in the rear when putting it down (maybe better than my s-works Roubaix). I wouldn't say the tarmac is rough, but it just doesn't seem to apply the power as well. If you put a bunch of fast technical turns on that that same rough road, the tarmac feels more planted and inspires confidence (madone feels a little "hoppier" in the front end on broken pavement). On a smooth technical course, it's a coin flip on handling. They have similar geometry and both handle like race bikes. All of this is extremely subjective and I'm sure different types of riders would have different preferences.

StanSeven

That's a nice informed compsridon from someone obviously knowledgable and unbiased. Good report! Thanks.

garysol1 

Thanks much for your comparison. I do appreciate it.