Specialized Tarmac SL4

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Dannnnn
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:00 pm

by Dannnnn

Hello

I've been lurking here for a while, so thought I'd get a thread going for my bike.

I've been riding for about 4 years now. Firstly on a Cube Peloton, which I got bored of and go this instead.

So I went into my local Hargroves Cycles and they had this orange Tarmac on display so it's the first thing you see when you walk in.

My first reaction....I want that.

So I bought one and collected it on my 27th birthday.

Quite a lot has changed since I got it but here goes (Starting Spec)

Specialized Tarmac SL4
9 KG (at a guess)

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Tamac SL4 Sport
Specialized Carbon 25mm setback seatpost
Specialized Toupe Sport saddle (143mm)
Specialized aluminium 90mm Stem
Shallow drop 420mm Handlebars
Garmin out front mount
Generic cork bar tape.
2 x Speicalized gloss black rib cage 2
105 5800 groupset (F+R mech and brakes)
105 5800 11-28 Cassette
105 5800 Pedals
Praxis Alba Crankset (172.5mm with 50/34 chainrings)
Mavic Kysrium Elite wheels
Specialized Turbo Inner tubes
S-works Turbo 26c tyres

After changing the saddle to a Fi'zi:k Antares R3 (160g lighter) I rode it for about 6 months happily.
Then it all started.....
Last edited by Dannnnn on Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:37 pm, edited 1 time in total.

Dannnnn
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:00 pm

by Dannnnn

Picked up a full brand new Ultegra 6800 groupset for ~£260

Fitted with a new KMC X11-SL chain, generic black cork bar tape and Shimano "Dura-Ace" cables.

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Then had a bike fit (due to picking up an ITB/Knee related Injury) and changed the saddle to a Specialized Power Pro (155mm)

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Following this, I just took it easy but still continued riding, in preparation for Revolve 24.

On the weekend of that I ended up taking over 90 seconds off my previous years fastest lap time. So I fitted a new stem cap as a reminder (Strava time is 13 seconds faster for some reason)

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Last edited by Dannnnn on Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:35 pm, edited 2 times in total.

by Weenie


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Dannnnn
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:00 pm

by Dannnnn

Following that I took a month off to allow my knee to recover and cut my rides down from 4 a week at 40mi each to one a week at 20mi (flat). Whilst I was off the bike, I bought and built up a second hand Allez to use over winter (see the winter bike thread)

Over winter the Tarmac stayed on my turbo trainer.

As it was getting round towards my birthday again, I decided to treat myself to a new set of wheels.
I've always wanted deep section wheels so bought some 2nd hand Cosine 45mm full carbon clinchers.

Having covered over 2000 miles on the S-Works turbos, I decided another pair would be a safe bet. So fitted the Cosines with them along with Specialized Turbo inner tubes (lightweight Butyl)

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I then managed to drop it (non drive side) whilst crossing a ford, which scuffed a shifter, the bar tape and broke a bottle cage. So replaced all of that.

The bar tape was changed to Supacaz Galaxy (Neon orange), I had the steerer cut down and a new S-works stem fitted (30g weight saved)

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Last edited by Dannnnn on Wed Jul 18, 2018 1:32 pm, edited 2 times in total.

Dannnnn
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:00 pm

by Dannnnn

Following that I've started to look towards saving some more weight to break into the 7kgs.

One of my big hates has been the cone spacer on the bike.
So I bought a carbon one as used on the S-works Tarmac, along with a "superlight" 10mm spacer

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This meant firstly buying a new seatpost (3T Stylus 25 LTD -50g) and another new saddle (S-works Turbo -53g)

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So now the spec sits like this:

Tamac SL4 Sport
3T Stylus 25 LTD seatpost - 213g
S-works Turbo saddle 155mm - 160g
S-works SL Stem 90mm - 108g
Shallow drop 420mm Handlebars -
K-edge out front mount + custom Exposure Trace holder.
Supacaz Galaxy Neon Orange Bar Tape
2 x Specialized gloss black rib cage 2
Ultegra 6800 Groupset (Front & SS Rear Mech and Brakes)
Ultegra 6800 11-28 Cassette
105 5800 Pedals
Ultegra 6800 Crankset (172.5mm with 50/34 chainrings)
Cosine 54mm Full Carbon Clinchers
Specialized Turbo Inner tubes
S-works Turbo 26c tyres

Final weight: 8.1kg (TBC)

Next up S-works Aerofly handlebars + new cables & Ultegra pedals
Last edited by Dannnnn on Fri Jul 20, 2018 11:28 am, edited 2 times in total.

treetrees
Posts: 94
Joined: Fri Oct 04, 2013 7:34 pm

by treetrees

I have the same tarmac sl4 in size 52 same colour , with same supercaz tape ,bottle cages but with DA and ultegra di2 mix . Just saving up for some Zipp 302 now . You can check it out on instagram (life’s a cycle ). Great bikes for the money it’s my Sunday best .

User avatar
4ibanez
Posts: 556
Joined: Sun Oct 05, 2014 4:54 pm
Location: Norwich, UK
Contact:

by 4ibanez

Great bikes. My Tarmac SL4 Expert @7.3kg has me doing better times than the 4.5kg bike, including smashing a 20%+ hill climb PB by 6 seconds this week. Weird!

The WW in me wants to get it at least under 6.8kg though.

Dannnnn
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:00 pm

by Dannnnn

This will be pretty much my final update (bar new wheels at some point)
Got my Aerofly bars fitted last weekend and now I've got nothing left to change :lol:

Gave it a good clean as it was filthy from riding on the damp country lanes and got snap happy with my DSLR. I'll get a display stand and go somewhere nicer later this year.

Bit annoyed at the final weight, but I'll change the pedals to Ultegra at some point, plus some Ti bolts and that should see me in at sub 8Kg.

Final spec is now:

2017 Tamac SL4 Sport
3T Stylus 25 LTD seatpost
S-works Turbo saddle 155mm
S-works SL Stem 90mm - 108g
S-works Aerofly 420mm Handlebars
Custom Revolve 24 2017 Timings Stem Cap
K-edge out front mount + Custom Exposure Trace holder.
Supacaz Galaxy Neon Orange Bar Tape
2 x Specialized gloss black rib cage 2
Ultegra 6800 Groupset (Front & SS Rear Mech and Brakes)
Ultegra 6800 11-28 Cassette
105 5800 Pedals
Ultegra 6800 Crankset (172.5mm with 50/34 chainrings)
Cosine 54mm Full Carbon Clinchers
Specialized Turbo Inner tubes
S-works Turbo 26c tyres

Final weight: 8.05kg

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diogovelosa
Posts: 6
Joined: Sun Aug 26, 2018 10:33 pm

by diogovelosa

Nice work, but I was a bit annoyed with the weight too.. When I start to read the history I thought that it would be on 7kg in the final.. You have very good material!

I have a tarmac sport 2016, the green / red one and Im now starting to modify! I am now 8.4kg with all stock, shimano 105 5800 with FSA gossamer 50/34 crankset .. It came with Axis 2.0 wheels and I just bought Mavic Ksyrium Elite because I do some racing here and want so extra wheels for a flats in racing..
I will try to get closer to 7kg... and get an aero bar, it looks so nice on your bike!
Last edited by diogovelosa on Mon Sep 03, 2018 1:29 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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peterlee
Posts: 18
Joined: Tue Aug 21, 2018 7:19 am

by peterlee

:thumbup: It's wonderful!!

Varg
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2018 3:35 am

by Varg

Nice! I have the same bike and I'm in the same boat as you in terms of upgrades so it's nice to see what my Spesh will look like :D
Up to now I've upgraded my stem (Sworks SL 110 mm 12 deg) and pedals (R8000). Next up, full Ultegra 8000 and the new PRO Vibe SL bars in 40 mm, I have still to decide if I go aero or round...

I also really, really hate the stock cone spacer. I've seem some in ebay but I'm not sure which one should I buy. Can you tell me where did you get yours and its measures (diameter)? Is it glossy or matte?

:thumbup:

KCookie
Posts: 1963
Joined: Thu Feb 12, 2015 9:40 am
Location: Pom living in Australia

by KCookie

The colour looks awesome, but the saddle tilt is quite extreme. Any reason for that. Just curious. Looks uncomfortable.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk


Dannnnn
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:00 pm

by Dannnnn

Varg wrote:
Tue Sep 04, 2018 4:22 am
Nice! I have the same bike and I'm in the same boat as you in terms of upgrades so it's nice to see what my Spesh will look like :D
Up to now I've upgraded my stem (Sworks SL 110 mm 12 deg) and pedals (R8000). Next up, full Ultegra 8000 and the new PRO Vibe SL bars in 40 mm, I have still to decide if I go aero or round...

I also really, really hate the stock cone spacer. I've seem some in ebay but I'm not sure which one should I buy. Can you tell me where did you get yours and its measures (diameter)? Is it glossy or matte?

:thumbup:
I got mine from this guy:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Specialized- ... SwGvlamBOV

I emailed him asking for the cone spacer seperately. He did a raw carbon and a normal weave carbon, I didn't know which one to get so got both. Luckily because the raw carbon one was too small.
KCookie wrote:
Tue Sep 04, 2018 4:44 am
The colour looks awesome, but the saddle tilt is quite extreme. Any reason for that. Just curious. Looks uncomfortable.

Sent from my SM-G960F using Tapatalk
Thanks
It's just how I stuck it on the bike, I found it quite difficult to get it level and that's just where I left it.
I actually find it quite comfy.
Last edited by Dannnnn on Tue Sep 04, 2018 11:24 am, edited 1 time in total.

happyon2wheels
Posts: 144
Joined: Wed Jan 31, 2018 8:17 am
Location: Denmark

by happyon2wheels

Great looking bike and very sensible upgrades you have made. I guess as long as it rides better than the weight suggests, then that is more important than what the scale says. I am surprised though as my winter bike (Allez E5 smartweld) with similar equipment weighs about half a kilo less...

Low cost weight reductions would be bottle cages, skewers and inner tubes. This could probably give you around 150-200g combined. And from an estethic perspective you could get a cleaner front by running crossed cables... 8)

But fast is certainly looks!

Dannnnn
Posts: 230
Joined: Wed Apr 04, 2018 1:00 pm

by Dannnnn

happyon2wheels wrote:
Tue Sep 04, 2018 8:54 am
Great looking bike and very sensible upgrades you have made. I guess as long as it rides better than the weight suggests, then that is more important than what the scale says. I am surprised though as my winter bike (Allez E5 smartweld) with similar equipment weighs about half a kilo less...

Low cost weight reductions would be bottle cages, skewers and inner tubes. This could probably give you around 150-200g combined. And from an estethic perspective you could get a cleaner front by running crossed cables... 8)

But fast is certainly looks!
I probably need to weigh it on some better scales. I'm not 100% confident in mine (cheap lugguage scales off amazon) but it's a good enough indication. It sure does ride well. Supremely comfortable now.

I'm already running lightweight tubes and I'm looking for the same shape cages but in carbon to come up cheap (they never do), as for skewers I use the Mavic ones that came with my other wheels. They aren't really light but they feel super secure.

The wheels are probably the thing letting it down, they are a touch heavy (1600+g) so I'll be changing them at some point for some Roval CL50s (<1500g)

by Weenie


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Varg
Posts: 2
Joined: Tue Sep 04, 2018 3:35 am

by Varg

Dannnnn wrote:
Tue Sep 04, 2018 8:12 am
Varg wrote:
Tue Sep 04, 2018 4:22 am
Nice! I have the same bike and I'm in the same boat as you in terms of upgrades so it's nice to see what my Spesh will look like :D
Up to now I've upgraded my stem (Sworks SL 110 mm 12 deg) and pedals (R8000). Next up, full Ultegra 8000 and the new PRO Vibe SL bars in 40 mm, I have still to decide if I go aero or round...

I also really, really hate the stock cone spacer. I've seem some in ebay but I'm not sure which one should I buy. Can you tell me where did you get yours and its measures (diameter)? Is it glossy or matte?

:thumbup:
I got mine from this guy:
https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Specialized- ... SwGvlamBOV

I emailed him asking for the cone spacer seperately. He did a raw carbon and a normal weave carbon, I didn't know which one to get so got both. Luckily because the raw carbon one was too small.
Thanks!

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