S-WORKS Tarmac SL6 - The Last Rim Braker

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Ferry
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by Ferry

justinfoxphotos wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2024 4:34 am
Noticed there's no SL6 Owners Facebook Group so I created one (if you own one, or appreciate SL6's please join up!): https://www.facebook.com/groups/1223748342001336
I am not on Facebook a lot but I will make sure to join the group. I love my S Works SL6 and ride it as much as the TCR (TCR is now being replaced by a Specialized Tarmac SL8). I changed the pads to cork pads and braking is fine. For wet weather I change to DT Swiss Oxid wheels and Swissstop pads.

I also received the bulky Zipp sprint stem. I find the slender lines of the S Works stem suits the frame very well.

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justinfoxphotos
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by justinfoxphotos

Ferry wrote:
Tue Oct 01, 2024 8:34 pm
I am not on Facebook a lot but I will make sure to join the group. I love my S Works SL6 and ride it as much as the TCR (TCR is now being replaced by a Specialized Tarmac SL8). I changed the pads to cork pads and braking is fine. For wet weather I change to DT Swiss Oxid wheels and Swissstop pads.

I also received the bulky Zipp sprint stem. I find the slender lines of the S Works stem suits the frame very well.
Awesome! Yup an SL8 is still on the cards for me too (one day!), but I'm now sure I'd buy one in a size 52 vs a size 49 (like my Allez Sprint).

Just had a look at your bike thread, very nice. I'm not a fan on tanwall tyres, but they really pop on your bike!

And I 10000% agree with you on the slimmer, more traditional and old school looking S-WORKS SL stem. I have an SL7 stem on my Allez Sprint as I really wanted to hide the brake cables, and it does that job really well, but I do think the SL7 stem looks heavy (well, it is actually heavy in weight too) and it's boxy shape doesn't match the frame at all. I have a Kalloy Uno stem on the SL6 now (it looks a lot like the S-WORKS SL stem) and I'm much happier with how it looks (it's lighter too).

I do think the ENVE Areo stem would look good if I got rid of the HUGE 20mm conical spacer, but I'm going to hold off on slamming the stem for now and just ride the bike some more to be sure.

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justinfoxphotos
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by justinfoxphotos

Woke up to yet another rainy day, so I decided to start stripping the SL6 down and get down to the bottom of where all the weight lies.

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Whoomp! There It Is!

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Ultegra cassette. I’ve ordered a Goldix 11-28 which manufacturer says weighs in at a silly 110g.

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Will look into some light Ti skewers. I’m 100% sure I still have a few KCNC skewers in storage, somewhere.

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Old tubes (will replace with RideNow TPU tubes with the pink valves at 36g each).

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Weight of the GP 4000’s. Not as heavy as I thought they would be for 28’s, will still look for something lighter though, may even go down to 25C for big weight savings.

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Weight of both Zipp 202’s combined. Would love to get a sub 1kg wheelset but struggling to find much out there in rim brake land, that and I think I want 45 deep wheels just to make the bike actually look good.

Turns out everything on this frame is heavy! I'm thinking a low to mid 6kg build might not be so easy unless I get another set of wheels. We'll see!

Eraser92
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by Eraser92

Wow that Rotor crankset. What's it made out of? Lead?

TPU inner tubes are great, they dropped about 200g for me from my wide butyl inner tubes.

One wheel option could be the Elite drive 40V. Very highly rated and around 1200g. I'm tempted by an Aliexpress one piece cassette but I'm not sure about the shifting performance compared to shimano.

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justinfoxphotos
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by justinfoxphotos

Eraser92 wrote:
Wed Oct 02, 2024 3:20 pm
Wow that Rotor crankset. What's it made out of? Lead?

One wheel option could be the Elite drive 40V. Very highly rated and around 1200g.
Right?! The power meter was probably what really weighed the crankset down. And as for wheels; I was waiting for Farsports to get back to me on whether or not they could build me a set of 45 deep Feders with carbon spokes, but no response (I take that as a no) so I just pulled the trigger on a set anyways. They're not super light at 1280g, but a lighter and deeper (wider internal width too) than the Zipp 202's.

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Got another set of Xpedo Thrust pedals via LordGun. Delivered super fast via FedEx.

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MAAP goodies also came in the mail.

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I can't belive I'm becoming a roadie. WTFFFFFFF!

CrankAddictsRich
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by CrankAddictsRich

justinfoxphotos wrote:
Thu Oct 03, 2024 11:23 am


Right?! The power meter was probably what really weighed the crankset down. And as for wheels; I was waiting for Farsports to get back to me on whether or not they could build me a set of 45 deep Feders with carbon spokes, but no response (I take that as a no) so I just pulled the trigger on a set anyways. They're not super light at 1280g, but a lighter and deeper (wider internal width too) than the Zipp 202's.

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Got another set of Xpedo Thrust pedals via LordGun. Delivered super fast via FedEx.

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MAAP goodies also came in the mail.

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I can't belive I'm becoming a roadie. WTFFFFFFF!
Take a look at the 8Lien wheels that I've been swapping between my Allez and Tarmac..

oh crap! just remembered this is rim brake. UGH!

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justinfoxphotos
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by justinfoxphotos

CrankAddictsRich wrote:
Thu Oct 03, 2024 1:35 pm
Take a look at the 8Lien wheels that I've been swapping between my Allez and Tarmac..

oh crap! just remembered this is rim brake. UGH!
LOL Rich. Honestly, pretty bummed that there aren't many super lightweight options out there, let alone options for wider internal widths (as the frame can handle 32mm tyres no worries). I've heard all the rim brake fans complaining about this and that. I now understand! As carbon disc brake wheelsets get lighter and wider it looks like technological development of rim brake wheelsets is definitely dead and over.

CrankAddictsRich
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by CrankAddictsRich

Yea.. time marches on. At the time that rim brake started dying, wide rims weren't really a thing... at least not as wide as you're looking for and definitely not wide, but also super light. That frame may fit 32's, but you also gotta look at brake clearances... on most late model rim brake bikes, the brakes were actually more of the issue than the actual frame.
Last edited by CrankAddictsRich on Fri Oct 04, 2024 12:55 am, edited 1 time in total.

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justinfoxphotos
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by justinfoxphotos

CrankAddictsRich wrote:
Thu Oct 03, 2024 11:46 pm
that frame may fit 32's, but you also gotta look at brake clearances... on most late model rim brake bikes, the brakes were actually more of the issue than the actual frame.
Oh damn you're right! Brake caliper clearance is 28. The previous owner chose Campagnolo Direct calipers which do not have a quick release mechanism to let you remove the wheels easily. IE: I had to completely deflate the tyres to get the wheels off lol! Bad design... irks me for sure so I might look into getting some Dura Ace direct mount calipers down the line (as finding that bracket to fit eeBrakes might be an impossibility).

Eraser92
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by Eraser92

Re: Rim brake carbon wheels

There still is some development out of chinese companies but as Rich says, the external limit is about 28mm because of the brakes. I've got some 9velo 55mm wheels on the way for my CAAD12 which have 21mm internal 27mm external which will be good enough for 28mm tyres and definitely an improvement on my 21mm external DT swiss. Thinking of maybe doing 25mm front 28mm rear but the marginal aero gains probably aren't worth it for the comfort loss on our crappy Irish roads.

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justinfoxphotos
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by justinfoxphotos

Eraser92 wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2024 8:15 am
I've got some 9velo 55mm wheels on the way for my CAAD12 which have 21mm internal 27mm external which will be good enough for 28mm tyres and definitely an improvement on my 21mm external DT swiss. Thinking of maybe doing 25mm front 28mm rear but the marginal aero gains probably aren't worth it for the comfort loss on our crappy Irish roads.
Good stuff! I did look at those 9VELO wheels, but ended up going for the Farsports Feder 45 deep 26mm wide 19mm internal with Extralite hubs and cx-super spokes as the wheels have no graphics under the clearcoat (I'll probably run 25C tyres for weight savings).

I never ride on the road, only at the park which is pretty damn smooth so no need for extra comfort wider tyres with lower pressures provide.

Right now I'm really heartbroken about Cane Creek discontinuing the adapter I need to fit the rear direct mount eeBrake on my size 52 frame. I've scoured the internet and not had any luck finding some. I's a massive bummer as I've always wanted a set of eeBrakes, just never had a frame worthy of them until now.

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This tech diagram would allow me to get the adapter made by a machinist. Would be pretty expensive, but I've put a call out on Facebook in hunt for one.

CCACHE got back to me and said that if I got an adaptor for them they would scan it and print a copy out of titanium, though they did just suggest to just go with Dura Ace for ease of set-up and maintenance (IE: no maintenance just set and forget).

I've sent Cane Creek a ticket with my sob story. Fingers crossed but it's looking pretty grim. :(

CrankAddictsRich
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by CrankAddictsRich

justinfoxphotos wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2024 9:39 am
CCACHE got back to me and said that if I got an adaptor for them they would scan it and print a copy out of titanium, though they did just suggest to just go with Dura Ace for ease of set-up and maintenance (IE: no maintenance just set and forget).

I've sent Cane Creek a ticket with my sob story. Fingers crossed but it's looking pretty grim. :(
I had eebrakes on two of my bikes, the center mount version, not the direct mount version... and there was no maintenance required in probably 7 years.. other than changing pads, which is super easy on them.

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justinfoxphotos
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by justinfoxphotos

CrankAddictsRich wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2024 5:22 pm
I had eebrakes on two of my bikes, the center mount version, not the direct mount version... and there was no maintenance required in probably 7 years.. other than changing pads, which is super easy on them.
Good to hear it. I've read many posts from people saying the same, but also just as many posts from people saying DA direct mount brakes are superior in every other way other than weight.

It's a moot point at this point anyways as I'm realising I'm not only going to have to have a machinist make the adaptor for me. I also might have to source some SL6 Tarmac specific rear eeBrake calipers. Trust me though. I've wanted a set of eeBrakes for so many years now I couldn't care less for their braking power, or how fidly they might be to install or maintain. Nothing anyone can say could put me off them as I put them at the very top above all other weight weenie parts on the market.

PS: I've gone and done something I never do, and that's to calculate what the end weight might be. I'm terrible at math (I failed math in school lol) and I've never in my life created a spreadsheet (never will either!), so with all my builds to date it's been more of a natural progression of trial and error and going with the flow vs. planning an entire build out before buying anything.

When I first weighed the bike in at 7.47kg I knew it wouldn't take too much to get the bike into the high 6kg mark. In my mind I was going to be happy with that, but after doing some calculations using weights listed by manufacturers and deducting parts I've yet to receive from the parts I've ripping off I've come up with this:

Frame: 2018 Specialized S-WORKS Size 52
Seatpost: Hylix (117g)
Saddle: Berk Lipa short padded (85g)
Stem: Extralite Hyperstem Stealth 120mm 6 degree (87g)
Bars: ENVE Aero IN-Route (267g)
Bar Tape: EXS Airtape (30g)
Front Derailleur: SRAM Red eTap
Rear Derailleur: SRAM Red eTap short cage (228g)
Cranks: Sram Red 167.5 50/34 (539g)
Brakes: Campagnolo Direct (352g)
Pedals: Xpedo Thrust SL Titanium (165g)
Bottle Cage: CarbonWorks (9g)
Wheelset: Wheelsfar Feder 45mm Extralite hubs cx-Super spokes (1280g)
Cassette: ZTTO SLR Gen3 11 Speed ​​11-28 (113g)
QR Skewers: Condor Ti (45g)
Tyres: Panaracer Agilest Light 25mm (340g)
Tubes: RideNow TPU Road Light (72g)

5.99kg?!

That's pretty wild (to me!). I would have been super happy with low 6kg's fully loaded, but if I can get into the high 5kg's I'll jump up and down on my couch like Tom Cruise.

The ENVE bars are heavy. Cadex Race Handlebars in 380mm weigh 154g, that -113g. Dura Ace brake calipers would save another -40g. Not sure where else I could save weight, maybe a lighter chain? Either way it's looking like my goal has shifted now from a high 6kg's build to a high 5kg's build (I'm excited!).

AZR3
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by AZR3

justinfoxphotos wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2024 10:53 pm
CrankAddictsRich wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2024 5:22 pm
I had eebrakes on two of my bikes, the center mount version, not the direct mount version... and there was no maintenance required in probably 7 years.. other than changing pads, which is super easy on them.
Good to hear it. I've read many posts from people saying the same, but also just as many posts from people saying DA direct mount brakes are superior in every other way other than weight.

It's a moot point at this point anyways as I'm realising I'm not only going to have to have a machinist make the adaptor for me. I also might have to source some SL6 Tarmac specific rear eeBrake calipers. Trust me though. I've wanted a set of eeBrakes for so many years now I couldn't care less for their braking power, or how fidly they might be to install or maintain. Nothing anyone can say could put me off them as I put them at the very top above all other weight weenie parts on the market.

I just returned a pair of eebrakes I bought (from cyclingupgrades) for an anticipated SL6 build that didnt end up happening and they were the short arm version (I was planning on geting a 54cm SL6). They are back up on cyclingupgrades site and I used the code BUYUPGRADES! for 10% off (if it doesnt work at checkout you can chat with them and theyll give you the code and it should work then)

Here are the ones I returned (they did have a scuff mark on the front brake you can see if you zoom in on the pic and look at the right side of the left brake) but other than that they were in great shape
https://www.cyclingupgrades.com/product ... 1682852073

EDIT--Didnt see you were in Australia so probably not a viable option, sorry

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justinfoxphotos
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by justinfoxphotos

AZR3 wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2024 11:13 pm
I just returned a pair of eebrakes I bought (from cyclingupgrades) for an anticipated SL6 build that didnt end up happening and they were the short arm version (I was planning on geting a 54cm SL6). They are back up on cyclingupgrades site and I used the code BUYUPGRADES! for 10% off (if it doesnt work at checkout you can chat with them and theyll give you the code and it should work then)

Here are the ones I returned (they did have a scuff mark on the front brake you can see if you zoom in on the pic and look at the right side of the left brake) but other than that they were in great shape
https://www.cyclingupgrades.com/product ... 1682852073

EDIT--Didnt see you were in Australia so probably not a viable option, sorry
Hey thanks for that! Much appreciated! They ship internationally. That's a decent price for a pair, and the small scuff on the front brake I can deal with. I've just bought them! Now I have the option of putting them on display in my lounge room whilst I track down or make an adapter, or I can fit the front brake and display just the rear on my coffee table until I find or make an adapter! :lol:

by Weenie


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