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New Specialized Tarmac SL7

martyg

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Oh dear, did you get hit by the SL7 virus too?

It's absolutely hilarious how many used Tarmac SL6s, Venges, and Madone SL5s went on sale today.

Very few out there.

Used SL6's and Venges won't be going on sale until at least Spring. SL7's are BO for the foreseeable future.

That being said I won't be selling my Venge.
 

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Tony Storaro

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Mine is arriving December, yay!
Just in time for the new ski season...:roflmao:
 
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martyg

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Mine is arriving December, yay!
Just in time for the new ski season...:roflmao:

Consider yourself fortunate.

Took mine on its first ride today. Just under 2 hours. 60 minutes at FPT. It feels amazingly like my Venge, but perhaps a bit more supple on rough pavement. Might also be the cotton tires. Love those tires!
 

Tony Storaro

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Took mine on its first ride today. Just under 2 hours. 60 minutes at FPT. It feels amazingly like my Venge, but perhaps a bit more supple on rough pavement. Might also be the cotton tires. Love those tires!

Thank you! Will appreciate if you share your views after doing some longer rides. Which one did you get? You mentioned cotton tyres so I assume SWorks-SRAM or Shimano? I went for the Red Pro Di2, just could not resist this color.
My main concern is if 36/30 would be low enough for climbing and if I should order a 34t cassette right away or wait until I try it first.
 

martyg

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Thank you! Will appreciate if you share your views after doing some longer rides. Which one did you get? You mentioned cotton tyres so I assume SWorks-SRAM or Shimano? I went for the Red Pro Di2, just could not resist this color.
My main concern is if 36/30 would be low enough for climbing and if I should order a 34t cassette right away or wait until I try it first.

Red / black S-Works with DA Di2. That being said I saw the green color way at Specialized. It is classy. It looks much better in person. You can't go wrong with either. The new color ways for Specialized are spot on. Really like them. Really like the new S-works Epics.

I'd wait on the cassette. No idea what hills are like where you are, but I am right in the middle of the San Juan Mtns. My physiology is not suited for mtns so any races that I do where I want to finish well are all about shorter, punchy climbs. If I were to do let's say Ride the Rockies I might look at dropping a few teeth on my chain rings. Doing a few climbs with stock gearing is just fine for a few hours ride. I am staying well withing my training objectives on all but recovery days.

Yes on tires. Cotton Turbo. The Venge comes with a tire that is a bit stiffer. When chatting with various engineers / designers within Specialized, they did emphasize that the SL7 Tarmac would be a bit more compliant. They are a good Source of the Truth.

I also have a few sets of 28mm Cotton Turbos laying around. I'll be mounting those once I go through the stock 26mm tires.

Enjoy.
 

Tony Storaro

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Red / black S-Works with DA Di2.

Great choice, it is a looker for sure and I also prefer Shimano to SRAM.
Just yesterday saw in person the green SWorks-amazing.
Agree on the colours-Spesh for sure know what they are doing...except for the new Roubaix line up which I am not impressed with but I guess next year when they update it will be better.

OK, thanks for the advise on the cassette, where I live the hardest is a 18 km climb with 1300 m ascend, for which I found I need a ratio of at least 1 to make it alive to the top, but as this depends also on the bike and the tyres, I will first see what the stock cassette feels like and then we'll see.
Not very keen on going for smaller chainrings at this point as I want it to be as fast as possible.

Thank you!
 

Tony Storaro

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Specialized in July: One bike to rule them all! Who needs two separate bikes when you can have aero and lightweight in the SL7, right?

Specialized in October: Forget what we said in July, here is our new Aethos, which is the pinnacle of lightweight-ness...

:roflmao: :roflmao:
 
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Ron

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I saw the Aethos and was wondering the same. so what the deal with that bike vs the SL7?
 
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gwasson

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I saw the Aethos and was wondering the same. so what the deal with that bike vs the SL7?

The Tarmac is a race bike, where the Aethos is not all about aero but all about being lightweight. It is lighter than the UCI minimum weight.

Pretty good preview of it on cyclingnews.com, but I thought this part sums it up pretty well.

A big part of Specialized’s design process was for the Aethos to be uncompromised in real-world riding which means it must match it’s climbing prowess with descending capability. Geometry and handling has been lifted straight from Specialized’s dedicated race bike, the Tarmac SL7, and has so far been nothing but precise allowing pinpoint apex calculations through corners and beautiful weight distribution.

When the SL7 was launched earlier in the year, Josh described it as a 'weapon of race destruction' in his Tarmac SL7 review, likening the SL7 to a lightweight Venge rather than a true descendent of the Tarmac line. With the new Aethos, Specialized may have found that lost Tarmac DNA and evolved it into a whole new species.
 

martyg

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The Tarmac is a race bike, where the Aethos is not all about aero but all about being lightweight. It is lighter than the UCI minimum weight.

Pretty good preview of it on cyclingnews.com, but I thought this part sums it up pretty well.

...likening the SL7 to a lightweight Venge rather than a true descendent of the Tarmac line. With the new Aethos, Specialized may have found that lost Tarmac DNA and evolved it into a whole new species.

Owning both I'd agree, to an extent, that the new Tarmac is lightwieght Venge. However it is also an evolution of the Tarmac line. In riding both bikes on back-to back days the SL7 Tarmac is more compliant than the Venge. Love the way that it climbs. Between the Aethos and Tarmac.... I'd take the Tarmac. Once you get above 20mph, on any bike, the aero ROI becomes evident.

Venge verses Tarmac....? Splitting hairs. Although the Tarmac is a tick more comfy. Wider tires on the Venge will likely make it more compliant.
 

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