201x Specialized Allez Sprint DSW and Gen2

[IrrelevantD]

Thanks - currently have an old Aeroad which has 10speed di2 so just looking for the frame although may end up buying a whole bike, stripping down and selling everything I don't want if I can't find the frame on its own. I could go and find a 52 and try it out, but always feel guilty test riding a bike I won't buy at the end of the test.

Understood, I feel a bit like that too, but I think of it more like buying a car. Different shops sell different brands and I may not buy a brand that the shop I'm at actually sells. That being said, I ended up ordering my frameset from the shop I was test riding at.

One thing that I will say about test riding the Allez Sprint... I'm not a fan of the buildup of the 2017 ones I rode. I have all tubeless wheels, which makes a big difference in comfort of the bike. With the factory clinchers, the ride was a bit harsh, but I think that on just about every bike I test ride with standard clinchers. Also, the Praxis cranks that were installed seemed a bit, uhh... flexy. When I was test riding I could get the chainring to rub on the derailleur when sprinting on two different bikes. This did not happen on mine when I built it up with Ultegra cranks, so I doubt it's the bike itself. Not sure if it would be an issue on the models with the 105 crankset, but with the Ultegra it's very stiff and transfers power really well to the rear end.

[morganb]

Thanks - currently have an old Aeroad which has 10speed di2 so just looking for the frame although may end up buying a whole bike, stripping down and selling everything I don't want if I can't find the frame on its own. I could go and find a 52 and try it out, but always feel guilty test riding a bike I won't buy at the end of the test.

Understood, I feel a bit like that too, but I think of it more like buying a car. Different shops sell different brands and I may not buy a brand that the shop I'm at actually sells. That being said, I ended up ordering my frameset from the shop I was test riding at.

One thing that I will say about test riding the Allez Sprint... I'm not a fan of the buildup of the 2017 ones I rode. I have all tubeless wheels, which makes a big difference in comfort of the bike. With the factory clinchers, the ride was a bit harsh, but I think that on just about every bike I test ride with standard clinchers. Also, the Praxis cranks that were installed seemed a bit, uhh... flexy. When I was test riding I could get the chainring to rub on the derailleur when sprinting on two different bikes. This did not happen on mine when I built it up with Ultegra cranks, so I doubt it's the bike itself. Not sure if it would be an issue on the models with the 105 crankset, but with the Ultegra it's very stiff and transfers power really well to the rear end.

That's interesting because the Praxis cranks were one of the stiffest in the fairwheel test. The BB of the Sprint is one of the stiffest I have seen tested from Velo and I think Tour testing also. Maybe the derailleur was aligned too close.

[IrrelevantD]

That's interesting because the Praxis cranks were one of the stiffest in the fairwheel test. The BB of the Sprint is one of the stiffest I have seen tested from Velo and I think Tour testing also. Maybe the derailleur was aligned too close.

Yea, it seemed kinda odd to me at the time as I knew the Praxis *rings* were supposed to be extremely stiff. It's possible it could have been derailleur adjustment, but they were two different sized bikes, a 54 and a 56 at two different shops as neither had both sizes. Other than that they were identical. The only other thing I could think of would be maybe some play due to the the bearing spacing being narrower? I believe that crankset was a true BB30 whereas the Shimano obviously is going to need outboard bearings; Wheels Mfg in my case. But really, flex in a BB30 would seem even more odd to me.

At between 90-100kg on average, I'm not a small guy, but I'm going to guess I was only putting 400-500W into it to get the ring to rub on the test rides. I can spike my Ultegra up to around 1200 with no issues. Perhaps the crankset Specialized spec'd is lower/mid end Praxis and a bit softer than the ones tested?

I only mentioned it because it almost turned me off of buying the Sprint and going with a low end Tarmac, a decision which I probably would now regret having put a few thousand miles on it. I figured that it had to be in the crank as there's no way there'd be enough flex in the frame between the hanger and the spindle to cause it. As I was only buying the frameset and would be using known cranks (I have 3), I went for it and couldn't be happier with my decision.

[morganb]

That's interesting because the Praxis cranks were one of the stiffest in the fairwheel test. The BB of the Sprint is one of the stiffest I have seen tested from Velo and I think Tour testing also. Maybe the derailleur was aligned too close.

Yea, it seemed kinda odd to me at the time as I knew the Praxis *rings* were supposed to be extremely stiff. It's possible it could have been derailleur adjustment, but they were two different sized bikes, a 54 and a 56 at two different shops as neither had both sizes. Other than that they were identical. The only other thing I could think of would be maybe some play due to the the bearing spacing being narrower? I believe that crankset was a true BB30 whereas the Shimano obviously is going to need outboard bearings; Wheels Mfg in my case. But really, flex in a BB30 would seem even more odd to me.

At between 90-100kg on average, I'm not a small guy, but I'm going to guess I was only putting 400-500W into it to get the ring to rub on the test rides. I can spike my Ultegra up to around 1200 with no issues. Perhaps the crankset Specialized spec'd is lower/mid end Praxis and a bit softer than the ones tested?

I only mentioned it because it almost turned me off of buying the Sprint and going with a low end Tarmac, a decision which I probably would now regret having put a few thousand miles on it. I figured that it had to be in the crank as there's no way there'd be enough flex in the frame between the hanger and the spindle to cause it. As I was only buying the frameset and would be using known cranks (I have 3), I went for it and couldn't be happier with my decision.

It might be the Alba instead of the Zayante which is a considerable downgrade. Their cranks aren't true BB30 and use outboard bearings so the lower spec one may be substantially noodlier.

[IrrelevantD]

It might be the Alba instead of the Zayante which is a considerable downgrade. Their cranks aren't true BB30 and use outboard bearings so the lower spec one may be substantially noodlier.

Went and looked up the specs based on "I know they were both orange and 105 equipped". It was the Alba, so I'll bet you're right and that was it. It all worked out in the end... I wasn't a fan of either the green or the orange, this one is much better looking.


(shameless chance to post a pic)

[vinuneuro]

It might be the Alba instead of the Zayante which is a considerable downgrade. Their cranks aren't true BB30 and use outboard bearings so the lower spec one may be substantially noodlier.

Do outboard bearings make for a noodlier setup?

[morganb]

It might be the Alba instead of the Zayante which is a considerable downgrade. Their cranks aren't true BB30 and use outboard bearings so the lower spec one may be substantially noodlier.

Do outboard bearings make for a noodlier setup?

Just the opposite, outboard bearings should be stiffer as the wider the bearing stance the better, at least compared to cranks that are forced to used spacers to make up the gap.

[vinuneuro]

It might be the Alba instead of the Zayante which is a considerable downgrade. Their cranks aren't true BB30 and use outboard bearings so the lower spec one may be substantially noodlier.

Do outboard bearings make for a noodlier setup?

Just the opposite, outboard bearings should be stiffer as the wider the bearing stance the better, at least compared to cranks that are forced to used spacers to make up the gap.

However with say BB30 the frame is supporting the bearing whereas with outboard the crank is reliant on the sleeve/cup for stiffness which doesn't have any material around it. I don't output any significant power so this isn't a concern of mine, but still interesting to think about. Are there any frame manufacturers that spec outboard bearings?

[IrrelevantD]

However with say BB30 the frame is supporting the bearing whereas with outboard the crank is reliant on the sleeve/cup for stiffness which doesn't have any material around it. I don't output any significant power so this isn't a concern of mine, but still interesting to think about. Are there any frame manufacturers that spec outboard bearings?

BB30 is also a larger diameter spindle (30mm vs. 24mm), so in theory, it’s supposed to be stiffer. Any BB30 frame, or in Specialized’s venacular, OSBB, will have outboard bearings when using 24mm spindle, IE: Shimano. If I remember correctly, BB386 is going to me a 30mm spindle with outboard bearings on a BB30 frame. Too many damn standards, my last bike was PF86, which was a whole other PITA. I miss the days when all you had to worry about was English or Italian threads.

[Nefarious86]

OSBB is different again to BB30 (nylon sleves on a 6806 bearing) and no longer spec'd.

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[IrrelevantD]

OSBB is different again to BB30 (nylon sleves on a 6806 bearing) and no longer spec'd.

Sent from my SM-N950F using Tapatalk

Kinda... they are still calling it OSBB. Install the alloy sleeve, and OSBB becomes BB30 compatible, but Specialized still calls it OSBB. So, on the Allez sprint, Specialized calls it OSBB even though it's actually BB30. Confused the hell out of me trying to find a Shimano compatible BB until I found Kogel's explainer. So, yea, prior to about 2015, OSBB was different.

[AyBee]

Could somebody take a look at the top of their seatpost and let me know whether there is a hole big enough to exit a di2 cable please?

[IrrelevantD]

Could somebody take a look at the top of their seatpost and let me know whether there is a hole big enough to exit a di2 cable please?

No holes in the seatpost. Given the design, I’m not sure you could even drill a hole above the clamp and get a cable through there. (Not that I’d recommend even thinking about it).

[Nefarious86]

Anyone notice that the frame bites the seat post?

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[SpecializedColnago]

I had bite on my blue allez sprint seatpost but so far nothing on my red hook. My blue bikes seatpost actually had a hairline crack on the back point from being squeezed together from the sides. I always torqued to 5nm instead of the higher torque listed on the clamp itself. Never actually had a problem because of the small crack because there seems to be a lot of material in that point. Not the best design in my opinion.