S-Works Tarmac Rim vs Cervelo R5 Rim

[rollinslow]

I need some real opinions on whether to go with an S-Works Tarmac ($4000 USD) or Cervelo R5 ($4200 USD) rim brake frameset. This frame is for travel and big mountain climbing, and I plan to transfer components over from my other travel bike. The Tarmac has direct mount rim brakes which when paired with my HED Belgium+ mated to CK ceramic hubs sounds great. I prefer rim brakes for flying/mailing my bikes.

What do people think quality and construction wise? Does Cervelo still make a good frame? I'm quite confident the S-Works tarmac is an excellent high quality build. My cervelo is an original S1 and I absolutely love it but that was back before the company was sold.

Thanks for experiences and opinions in advance.

[spud]

I'd have a hard time paying $4200 for a Cervelo R5 frameset. Their BB dimensional accuracy us known to be pretty lax, so there's a high probability of chasing down a problem later on. I bought one on special, and installed a BBinfinite just as a precaution. I helped a friend install one on his bike because he was having creaking problems too. The problem with BBinfinite is that they want you to install the bearings with retaining compound, which I'd prefer not to do from a servicability standpoint, so I'm going to try running without it.
That said, Spec may have BB problems too, I just don't know. In either case, they reputedly handle very well. I'd try to corner local riders to see if they've had issues to fi after a couple K miles.

[mrlobber]

Direct mount rim brakes are as good as they get - you won't get better braking with rim brakes, ever. And you can install DM EE's for those nice weight savings on the Tarmac
That's a plus to the Specialized.
About BB's - the R5 has a completely solid BB shell (first time I've ever seen such thing on a Cervelo), I personally have ridden R5 Disc for 2 seasons without any BB issues. I did have a mysterious creaking I couldn't solve for a while, but it turned out to be the stupid RAT thru axles
I've seen reports that R5 is a really good descender, but so is the Tarmac probably. I haven't ridden my R5 in mountains, but on flats and races, it flies and is only marginally slower compared to pure aero bikes.
My personal preference is to R5 lines (close to classic without the dropped seatstays) and color scheme, too.

Actually the road cc review is pretty good (disc version, though):
https://road.cc/content/review/247357-cervelo-r5-disc - but note that when they speak of comfort, they were running the stock Conti Grandprix tyres - and, if compared on comfort to Tarmac SWorks, which runs Turbo Cottons, it's a one way fight not because of frames, but because of tyres.

[wheelsONfire]

Aren't Cervelo going on sales quite often?
I usually see Cervelo and Scott the easiest to find on sale.

[spud]

Direct mount rim brakes are as good as they get - you won't get better braking with rim brakes, ever. And you can install DM EE's for those nice weight savings on the Tarmac
That's a plus to the Specialized.
About BB's - the R5 has a completely solid BB shell (first time I've ever seen such thing on a Cervelo), I personally have ridden R5 Disc for 2 seasons without any BB issues. I did have a mysterious creaking I couldn't solve for a while, but it turned out to be the stupid RAT thru axles
I've seen reports that R5 is a really good descender, but so is the Tarmac probably. I haven't ridden my R5 in mountains, but on flats and races, it flies and is only marginally slower compared to pure aero bikes.
My personal preference is to R5 lines (close to classic without the dropped seatstays) and color scheme, too.

what did you replace with? I haven't built up the bike yet, but RAT strikes me as a heavy and fussy system that I don't need since I'm not racing.

[mrlobber]

RobertAxleProject or Extralite.

Robert's axles are slightly heavier than Extralite, but they sell them together with the appropriate threaded insert for fork and different RD hanger, so no added fuss of hunting them down separately.