S-Works Venge 2019 Size 54 - 7.3kg

[Discoverspeed]

Frameset: S-Works Venge 2019 Size 54 Black-Hologram
Groupset: Shimano Dura-Ace Disc (except for swapped parts listed)

Drivetrain:
BB: CeramicSpeed (Coated)
Chain: YBN 11-S Black
Crankset: Shimano 9100P, Power meter
Cassette: Recon 11-25t
Chainrings: Rotor ALDHU 53T, Dura-Ace 9100 38T
RD Pulley System: Ceramicspeed OSPW Gold Edittion Ltd
Pedals: Time Xpresso 12

Cockpit:
Saddle: Power Pro Elaston (Test Saddle). TBD
Handlebar: S-Works Aerofly II 420mm
Stem: S-Works Venge Stem 100mm
Bar Tape: Ciclovation Leather Touch Black

Brakes:
Front/ Rear Brakes: Shimano Dura-Ace R9170 Hydraulic Disc
Front/ Rear Rotors: Carbon Ti X-Rotor SteelCarbon 2 140mm

Wheels & Tires:
Zipp NSW 404
Schwable Pro One Tubeless 25mm Front/ 28mm Rear

Electronics:
Computer: Garmin 1030
Front Light: Fabric Lumaray (mounted upside down below computer mount)
Rear Light: Specialized Stix Elite

[Discoverspeed]

More Photos:

[Discoverspeed]

**Testing out various cages and bottle preferences

[robeambro]

Very nice.

Out of curiosity, how would you rate the comfort and general riding feeling over your (beautiful) Colnago Concept? I understand you have tubulars on that, so it's not a completely fair comparison, but still..

[Discoverspeed]

I eventually settled on the NSW454 clinchers for the Colnago Concept running on Michelin Power Competitions 25mm frnt 25 mm rear.
The Venge is on NSW 404 running on Schwble Pro One 25mm front 28mm rear Tubeless.
Both are on 80 psi front and rear.

The Venge is much more comfortable than the Colnago Concept, especially in the rear. It is equivalent in comfort to my Storck F.3, which has more "traditional tubes" and a "comfort seatpost" as described by Storck.

The Colnago Concept in fact is one of the most jarring rides I had ever owned and ridden. I had a few occasions of bottles flying off the cages when the road got real rough. Whenever my teamates and I go over uneven surfaces, the Concept is audibly the loudest as the road impact sounds get transmitted through the frame - to the point where I am embarassed... and I am not joking here. Road harshness and bumps get transmitted to the wrists, palms and butt. It is very stiff but that is also a positive attribute for the Concept's main strength - power sprints. The power transmission is very good. So it is a give and take. I love the power transmission but get tired after a long ride from the incessant road vibrations.

I just got the Venge for three days and have only ridden the Venge for about 100km so I cannot really give a long term assessment. But with the 100km along basically the same routes I ride my Colnago Concept on, I can already tell the massive improvement in comfort level. The difference is just so stark (and no, it is not because of a new bike effect).

The Venge is incrediby comfortable for an Aero bike (and I have owned the S5, Storck Aerfast, Concept). As mentioned, it is very very close to the comfort levels I experienced with all my other "traditional" road bikes.

[robeambro]

I eventually settled on the NSW454 clinchers for the Colnago Concept running on Michelin Power Competitions 25mm frnt 25 mm rear.
The Venge is on NSW 404 running on Schwble Pro One 25mm front 28mm rear Tubeless.
Both are on 80 psi front and rear.

The Venge is much more comfortable than the Colnago Concept, especially in the rear. It is equivalent in comfort to my Storck F.3, which has more "traditional tubes" and a "comfort seatpost" as described by Storck.

The Colnago Concept in fact is one of the most jarring rides I had ever owned and ridden. I had a few occasions of bottles flying off the cages when the road got real rough. Whenever my teamates and I go over uneven surfaces, the Concept is audibly the loudest as the road impact sounds get transmitted through the frame - to the point where I am embarassed. and I amm not joking here Road harshness and bumps get transmitted to the wrists, palms and butt. It is very stiff but that is also a positive attribute for the Concept's main strength - power sprints. The power transmission is very good. So it is a give and take. I love the power transmission but get tired after a long ride from the incessant road vibrations.

I just got the Venge for three days and have only ridden the Venge for about 100km so I cannot really give a long term assessment. But with the 100km along basically the same routes I ride my Colnago Concept on, I can already tell the massive improvement in comfort level. The difference is just so stark (and no, it is not because of a new bike effect).

The Venge is incrediby comfortable for an Aero bike (and I have owned the S5, Storck Aerfast, Concept). As mentioned, it is very very close to the comfort levels I experienced with all my other "traditional" road bikes.

Thank you. Your feedback is very helpful for me to gather an opinion as to what comfort to expect.

[sun]

How did you mount the Fabric lumaray light?

[Discoverspeed]

Mounting another Garmin Quarter mount adapter below the original Specialized computer extended mount. LBS had a spare one lying around.

The Lumaray light's top mount where you are supposed to attach the computer to is too weak for the bigger computers like the Garmin 1000 series.

My computer flew off over some rough terrain and I found out that the Lumaray's top quarter mount had cracked off. The plastic they used was just too fragile. However, the Lumaray's bottom "male" mount was much stronger and so I salvaged the Lumaray light by reverse mounting it.

I think this accidental experiment turned out much better than what the Lumaray light was designed for - mounting the computer on top of the light. Kinda sleeker

[Geoff]

Ok, that's nice. How do you like that powermeter?

[Discoverspeed]

I like the powermeter because of it's simplicty, charging, calibrating, ability to work (read well) with oval chainrings and overall looks. Ultimately it was just so well put together with the rest of the groupset. Not so "loud" in apperance. Very integrated look.

Performance? Didn't feel the momentary "lag" in readings caused by sudden accelerations as reported by some. I averaged mine on 3sec power and there were no issues.

Left-right balance was useful for me as I try to train my weaker leg (a very marginal shorter leg). Kinda validates what I've known so far - one slightly shorter leg as a result of a higher pelvic joint (don't know the exact terminolgoy so don't flame me) and I could see that my muscles in that leg were not so defined. Will go to a good fitter to address this discrepancy (stacks or whatever) but essentially the L-R balance is validating what I've long suspected.

Still playing with it. Don't know what %smoothness means and yet to explore the power phases. As I am a more senior cyclist, it is more of diagnostics with my pedalling style that I am interested at for the moment and establishing my base power level.

[Squashednuts]

Don't know what %smoothness means and yet to explore the power phases. As I am a more senior cyclist, it is more of diagnostics with my pedalling style that I am interested at for the moment and establishing my base power level.

I’ve recently bought power meter and was applauded by my smoothness reading, between 25 & 30%, so checked it out.

https://www.cyclinganalytics.com/blog/2 ... smoothness

An short excerpt “Pedal smoothness measures how smoothly power is delivered to the pedal throughout the revolution. It is calculated as Pavg / Pmax and is normally displayed as a percentage. A value of 100% means that the power is delivered constantly throughout the revolution. Values of 10–40% are common”

[Discoverspeed]

Thanks for the link.

I am really getting good quantitative diagnostic statistics on the way I long suspected that I have been pedalling - that my left leg is more "efficient", as evidenced by straighter laser tracking of my left knee when I do bike fitouts, physically more defined left calves, muscle strains predominantly on my right side on long rides etc. However, I just couldn't get my head around what this feeling of "efficiency" really means.

The powermeter now shows quantitatively the following:

L/R Balance: 55%/45%
L/R Smoothness: 23%/20%
L/R Torque Effectiveness: 75%/69%

There you go - quantitative validation and I really do have to work on addressing my right! Awesome.

[mf22433]

Note that with oval rings most powermeters will overshoot the power measurements (by 4% if I remember right). Currently there is only the Rotor powermeters and the Favero Assioma pedals that are giving accurate measurements with oval rings. This is due to the way the powermeter measures the angular velocity. There is an explanation on the Favero website.

[zappafile123]

Discoverspeed what do you think of the Venge vs. your F.3, espeically in terms of subjective (and actual) speed?