Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8

[paulbike]

Concept store is a good shout as they currently has every size RTP except 44cm and well bars are a lottery at the moment and lots of shops take pre-orders.
But if you struggle pop back here as someone can always help possibly locate stock

I expect I'll be on here a lot asking really silly and probably painfully obvious questions to you experienced bike builders.

In fact, is there any resource that checks compatibility with parts? I’m a confident PC builder but nowadays that’s just like electronic lego. Picking parts which I’m sure will all work in harmony together seems like a dark art at this point.
I feel like the parts I’ve picked should be fine and worth with one another but I’ll probably post the list closer to the time to find out for sure

I didn't know anything about being a bike mechanic 3 years ago.

When the SL8 came out I built it myself.

The best guide you will find is in the manufacturer's materials.

SRAM has really great, thorough resources. I'm less familiar with the quality of Shimano's resources, but I'm assuming all the answers are there in the manuals as well.

Trust the manual.

You'll find that building bikes is much like building PCs. There is some esoteric stuff to learn, but it's mostly legos.

The real challenge comes in fixing things like squeaks, clicks, and other random issues. That takes some experience.

[havana]

I am in the fortunate circumstance of being able to ride the SL8 this year. About six rides in now. It's the poor man's SL8, not the S-works. You can't have it all

It's a noticeable upgrade from my Scott Addict RC, which was also a solid bike. The SL8 offers a more direct and slightly nervier ride without being overwhelming, contrasting with the Scott's slightly more lazy but comfortable feel. Both bikes are top-notch, but the SL8's thinner top tube is a major plus for me, preventing knee bumps that I often experienced with the Scott. Both bikes share the Ultegra Di2 12-speed groupset, but I've enhanced the SL8 with a Dura Ace crank.



With the DA crank

[Erikhoffie]

I am in the fortunate circumstance of being able to ride the SL8 this year. About six rides in now. It's the poor man's SL8, not the S-works. You can't have it all

It's a noticeable upgrade from my Scott Addict RC, which was also a solid bike. The SL8 offers a more direct and slightly nervier ride without being overwhelming, contrasting with the Scott's slightly more lazy but comfortable feel. Both bikes are top-notch, but the SL8's thinner top tube is a major plus for me, preventing knee bumps that I often experienced with the Scott. Both bikes share the Ultegra Di2 12-speed groupset, but I've enhanced the SL8 with a Dura Ace crank.



With the DA crank

Nice bike (mooie fiets ) and specialy really nice color. Got the Pro myself with Ultegra. Hope with the weather getting better, I can enjoy it outside again. Which size you got? And may I ask your stem length and the compulsory saddle height?

[TheRubbishNewbie]

Concept store is a good shout as they currently has every size RTP except 44cm and well bars are a lottery at the moment and lots of shops take pre-orders.
But if you struggle pop back here as someone can always help possibly locate stock

I expect I'll be on here a lot asking really silly and probably painfully obvious questions to you experienced bike builders.

In fact, is there any resource that checks compatibility with parts? I’m a confident PC builder but nowadays that’s just like electronic lego. Picking parts which I’m sure will all work in harmony together seems like a dark art at this point.
I feel like the parts I’ve picked should be fine and worth with one another but I’ll probably post the list closer to the time to find out for sure

I didn't know anything about being a bike mechanic 3 years ago.

When the SL8 came out I built it myself.

The best guide you will find is in the manufacturer's materials.

SRAM has really great, thorough resources. I'm less familiar with the quality of Shimano's resources, but I'm assuming all the answers are there in the manuals as well.

Trust the manual.

You'll find that building bikes is much like building PCs. There is some esoteric stuff to learn, but it's mostly legos.

The real challenge comes in fixing things like squeaks, clicks, and other random issues. That takes some experience.

I'm partly tempted to give it a go just so that I have the confidence to take it apart if need be. But it's the things you can't undo which worry me. Like cutting the steerer tube. I've got plenty of time to read up and absorb as much information as possible

I actually went to the concept store yesterday. Both a great and terrible idea at the same time. I thought I'd be a size 56 but they said a 54 would be better suited for me. I did mention I'm coming from a medium Canyon Ultimate which feels every so slightly too big when on the hoods and their advice was to size down on the frame but maybe go for a slightly longer stem length.

The purple looks much nicer in person than the pictures do online. Though so does the RTP frame. Wasn't overly keen on the white frame. To my eyes it looked a bit like curdled milk

[havana]

@Erikhoffie

It's a 58. I'm 1m85. Stem length 11 cm, saddle height 77,5.

[chorus88]

I am in the fortunate circumstance of being able to ride the SL8 this year. About six rides in now. It's the poor man's SL8, not the S-works. You can't have it all

It's a noticeable upgrade from my Scott Addict RC, which was also a solid bike. The SL8 offers a more direct and slightly nervier ride without being overwhelming, contrasting with the Scott's slightly more lazy but comfortable feel. Both bikes are top-notch, but the SL8's thinner top tube is a major plus for me, preventing knee bumps that I often experienced with the Scott. Both bikes share the Ultegra Di2 12-speed groupset, but I've enhanced the SL8 with a Dura Ace crank.

Your SL8 looks great.
Beautiful bike.

[Charlie69]

I am in the fortunate circumstance of being able to ride the SL8 this year. About six rides in now. It's the poor man's SL8, not the S-works. You can't have it all

It's a noticeable upgrade from my Scott Addict RC, which was also a solid bike. The SL8 offers a more direct and slightly nervier ride without being overwhelming, contrasting with the Scott's slightly more lazy but comfortable feel. Both bikes are top-notch, but the SL8's thinner top tube is a major plus for me, preventing knee bumps that I often experienced with the Scott. Both bikes share the Ultegra Di2 12-speed groupset, but I've enhanced the SL8 with a Dura Ace crank.



With the DA crank

I can't see those photos for some reason?....image not available?

[Sander7721]

Concept store is a good shout as they currently has every size RTP except 44cm and well bars are a lottery at the moment and lots of shops take pre-orders.
But if you struggle pop back here as someone can always help possibly locate stock

I expect I'll be on here a lot asking really silly and probably painfully obvious questions to you experienced bike builders.

In fact, is there any resource that checks compatibility with parts? I’m a confident PC builder but nowadays that’s just like electronic lego. Picking parts which I’m sure will all work in harmony together seems like a dark art at this point.
I feel like the parts I’ve picked should be fine and worth with one another but I’ll probably post the list closer to the time to find out for sure

I didn't know anything about being a bike mechanic 3 years ago.

When the SL8 came out I built it myself.

The best guide you will find is in the manufacturer's materials.

SRAM has really great, thorough resources. I'm less familiar with the quality of Shimano's resources, but I'm assuming all the answers are there in the manuals as well.

Trust the manual.

You'll find that building bikes is much like building PCs. There is some esoteric stuff to learn, but it's mostly legos.

The real challenge comes in fixing things like squeaks, clicks, and other random issues. That takes some experience.

I'm partly tempted to give it a go just so that I have the confidence to take it apart if need be. But it's the things you can't undo which worry me. Like cutting the steerer tube. I've got plenty of time to read up and absorb as much information as possible

I actually went to the concept store yesterday. Both a great and terrible idea at the same time. I thought I'd be a size 56 but they said a 54 would be better suited for me. I did mention I'm coming from a medium Canyon Ultimate which feels every so slightly too big when on the hoods and their advice was to size down on the frame but maybe go for a slightly longer stem length.

The purple looks much nicer in person than the pictures do online. Though so does the RTP frame. Wasn't overly keen on the white frame. To my eyes it looked a bit like curdled milk

How tall are you?
I’m 178cm and ride a 54cm


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Jaisen]

Concept store is a good shout as they currently has every size RTP except 44cm and well bars are a lottery at the moment and lots of shops take pre-orders.
But if you struggle pop back here as someone can always help possibly locate stock

I expect I'll be on here a lot asking really silly and probably painfully obvious questions to you experienced bike builders.

In fact, is there any resource that checks compatibility with parts? I’m a confident PC builder but nowadays that’s just like electronic lego. Picking parts which I’m sure will all work in harmony together seems like a dark art at this point.
I feel like the parts I’ve picked should be fine and worth with one another but I’ll probably post the list closer to the time to find out for sure

I didn't know anything about being a bike mechanic 3 years ago.

When the SL8 came out I built it myself.

The best guide you will find is in the manufacturer's materials.

SRAM has really great, thorough resources. I'm less familiar with the quality of Shimano's resources, but I'm assuming all the answers are there in the manuals as well.

Trust the manual.

You'll find that building bikes is much like building PCs. There is some esoteric stuff to learn, but it's mostly legos.

The real challenge comes in fixing things like squeaks, clicks, and other random issues. That takes some experience.

I'm partly tempted to give it a go just so that I have the confidence to take it apart if need be. But it's the things you can't undo which worry me. Like cutting the steerer tube. I've got plenty of time to read up and absorb as much information as possible

I actually went to the concept store yesterday. Both a great and terrible idea at the same time. I thought I'd be a size 56 but they said a 54 would be better suited for me. I did mention I'm coming from a medium Canyon Ultimate which feels every so slightly too big when on the hoods and their advice was to size down on the frame but maybe go for a slightly longer stem length.

The purple looks much nicer in person than the pictures do online. Though so does the RTP frame. Wasn't overly keen on the white frame. To my eyes it looked a bit like curdled milk

Just measure out the steerer tube and put an electric tape where it needs to be cut, then bring it to a shop. They'll cut it for 20$ and that is one of the only cases where I'd say it probably isn't worth buying the tools to do it yourself, as you usually only need to cut once. That's what I did when I built my SL7. The only other example I can think of is if you need to have the brake mounts refaced, those tools are incredibly expensive and it rarely needs to be done. Everything else you are good to do on your own with minimal tools required.

[hannawald]

I guess he is afraid of correct measuring rather than cutting itself:) If you measure correctly, cutting is the easier part, you just need the guiding tool for the saw and special carbon blade. More expensive than 20 usd but not by much.

[BigBoyND]

Both bikes share the Ultegra Di2 12-speed groupset, but I've enhanced the SL8 with a Dura Ace crank.

How come you changed to DA cranks? Calipers and cassette save more g/€ and for the price of DA cranks there are also lighter options. But it does look nice!

[Ritsuke]

You may have answered your own question. :p

[Jaisen]

Both bikes share the Ultegra Di2 12-speed groupset, but I've enhanced the SL8 with a Dura Ace crank.

How come you changed to DA cranks? Calipers and cassette save more g/€ and for the price of DA cranks there are also lighter options. But it does look nice!

On top of it, the DA cranks are the same weight as the Ultegra ones. They are probably identical with a different paint job. The difference in weight from the DA crankset to the Ultegra one comes down entirely to the chainrings.

[TheRubbishNewbie]

How tall are you?
I’m 178cm and ride a 54cm

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

i'M 5'11"/180cm. My partner jokes that I am all limb. Long arms and legs but a regular sized torso?

Just measure out the steerer tube and put an electric tape where it needs to be cut, then bring it to a shop. They'll cut it for 20$ and that is one of the only cases where I'd say it probably isn't worth buying the tools to do it yourself, as you usually only need to cut once. That's what I did when I built my SL7. The only other example I can think of is if you need to have the brake mounts refaced, those tools are incredibly expensive and it rarely needs to be done. Everything else you are good to do on your own with minimal tools required.

Not a bad idea atually. I have to pop to the shop where i dropped my kickr off last week for repair and see if that's something they'd be open to doing.

I guess he is afraid of correct measuring rather than cutting itself:) If you measure correctly, cutting is the easier part, you just need the guiding tool for the saw and special carbon blade. More expensive than 20 usd but not by much.

It's definitely this more than the latter. The staff in the concept store were really friendly. Had my 2 year old daughter with me who was having a bit of a tantrum so I couldn't stay as long as I woukd've liked but they said they'd get me measured up and find the correct sizes. Hopefully they'd be able to advise how short to cut the tube.

Going there was a bad choice. I went there under the guise of looking for a balance bike for the kid but it was totally for me. Was immediately smitten by the bikes and when I got home I had an unfair disdain for my current bike

[BikeTyson]

Both bikes share the Ultegra Di2 12-speed groupset, but I've enhanced the SL8 with a Dura Ace crank.

How come you changed to DA cranks? Calipers and cassette save more g/€ and for the price of DA cranks there are also lighter options. But it does look nice!

In my opinion (and why I did it), the Dura-Ace crank just looks so much better. The looks alone are worth the upgrade for me. Ultegra just doesn't look good. I'd actually go down to 105 just for the better looking crank.