S-WORKS Tarmac SL6 / 5.45kg

[justinfoxphotos]

A few sunday night drunken thoughts that are probably only half feels and half reals:

Man of culture!

It looks like you are running British/Moto braking. While this is actually better if you ride motorcycle and bicycle some frames are kind of designed for a specific cable flow. If your rear brake feels like it has the same friction as the front regardless of handlebar steering leave it as is but if the rear feels any more draggy I'd swap.

Yup it's how we set up all our bicycles in Australia (and how all bikes have always been for me since I was a kid). Swapping them over would be life threatening when emergency braking! I did do a fair bit of trial and error with cable lengths (I wanted to make them as short as possible), but the longer I made them the smoother the brakes felt (the short outer cable for the rear brake looked so much cleaner super short, but when pulling on the brakes the cable would hit the frame so I settled on making it a fair bit longer). It is what it is though, the brakes work fine and comparing the ease and smoothness of the lever pull to hydraulic brakes is just unrealistic.

here is a USA link for the aftermarket smaller batteries.

Yup I saw these, but they will not ship to Australia. The carbon ones are on a Chinese site that I don't have access to (but I do have a friend who does so I may look into that at some point).

I use Tesa 51628.

I've done a lot of research on Tesa tape (it's what we use for wrapping wiring behind the centre console in cars!). Love the concept, but feel like it would look more at home on my retro 80's steel race bike vs. the more modern SL6 Tarmac. Tempting though for the fun of it!

Take your time with positioning setup. The longer the better. It takes me forever which is why I have tons of kalloys in different lengths.

You went with wheels that are optimized for the width you have but the platform can fit wider if you want.

100% agree that this is the best way to dial in a fit. It's taken me months to dial in my Allez Sprint as I've made the smallest changes (1mm here, 1mm there) over a long period of time as opposed to making a lot of changes before each ride. Riding 5 days a week at the exact same location and route has helped a lot too.

And yup, the bike came with 28C tyres, which I think looked way more aggressive as it made the gaps between the rear tyre and seatpost tube way smaller (I love that look). So I'm tempted to get some 28's back on, but will at least live with these for a while.


25C. Big gaps.


28C fills the gaps.

I'm hoping the weight weenie disease will subside now that I've surpassed my goal of low 6kg's with this build, but there are a few small things I'm tempted to change:

EXTRALITE Cassette Lock Ring [-1.5g]
EXTRALITE Ahead Top Cap [-5.2]
EXTRALITE Expander UltraStar [-25g]
EXTRALITE Quickrelease Skewers [-13g]
EXTRALITE Handlebar Plugs [-7g]
JAGWIRE Elite Link [-40g]
Shortcage Derailleur Cage [-7g]

That's almost a 100g savings over what's on the bike at the moment without spending too much (I already have a spare short cage derailleur).

But where does it end? Gelu saddle, Darimo bars, stem and seatpost, 645g Brisk tubular wheelset, lighter chainrings... at that stage I'd be wishing I had an S-WORKS RTP frameset to dip into the 4kg mark! IE: I think I've got to be happy that the build has come out way lighter than I expected. The plan now is to just ride it, and I'm sure the more I ride it the more clear things will be (whether I need to change anything, etc.).

[bcarvalho]

A few sunday night drunken thoughts that are probably only half feels and half reals:

Man of culture!

It looks like you are running British/Moto braking. While this is actually better if you ride motorcycle and bicycle some frames are kind of designed for a specific cable flow. If your rear brake feels like it has the same friction as the front regardless of handlebar steering leave it as is but if the rear feels any more draggy I'd swap.

Yup it's how we set up all our bicycles in Australia (and how all bikes have always been for me since I was a kid). Swapping them over would be life threatening when emergency braking! I did do a fair bit of trial and error with cable lengths (I wanted to make them as short as possible), but the longer I made them the smoother the brakes felt (the short outer cable for the rear brake looked so much cleaner super short, but when pulling on the brakes the cable would hit the frame so I settled on making it a fair bit longer). It is what it is though, the brakes work fine and comparing the ease and smoothness of the lever pull to hydraulic brakes is just unrealistic.

here is a USA link for the aftermarket smaller batteries.

Yup I saw these, but they will not ship to Australia. The carbon ones are on a Chinese site that I don't have access to (but I do have a friend who does so I may look into that at some point).

I use Tesa 51628.

I've done a lot of research on Tesa tape (it's what we use for wrapping wiring behind the centre console in cars!). Love the concept, but feel like it would look more at home on my retro 80's steel race bike vs. the more modern SL6 Tarmac. Tempting though for the fun of it!

Take your time with positioning setup. The longer the better. It takes me forever which is why I have tons of kalloys in different lengths.

You went with wheels that are optimized for the width you have but the platform can fit wider if you want.

100% agree that this is the best way to dial in a fit. It's taken me months to dial in my Allez Sprint as I've made the smallest changes (1mm here, 1mm there) over a long period of time as opposed to making a lot of changes before each ride. Riding 5 days a week at the exact same location and route has helped a lot too.

And yup, the bike came with 28C tyres, which I think looked way more aggressive as it made the gaps between the rear tyre and seatpost tube way smaller (I love that look). So I'm tempted to get some 28's back on, but will at least live with these for a while.


25C. Big gaps.


28C fills the gaps.

I'm hoping the weight weenie disease will subside now that I've surpassed my goal of low 6kg's with this build, but there are a few small things I'm tempted to change:

EXTRALITE Cassette Lock Ring [-1.5g]
EXTRALITE Ahead Top Cap [-5.2]
EXTRALITE Expander UltraStar [-25g]
EXTRALITE Quickrelease Skewers [-13g]
EXTRALITE Handlebar Plugs [-7g]
JAGWIRE Elite Link [-40g]
Shortcage Derailleur Cage [-7g]

That's almost a 100g savings over what's on the bike at the moment without spending too much (I already have a spare short cage derailleur).

But where does it end? Gelu saddle, Darimo bars, stem and seatpost, 645g Brisk tubular wheelset, lighter chainrings... at that stage I'd be wishing I had an S-WORKS RTP frameset to dip into the 4kg mark! IE: I think I've got to be happy that the build has come out way lighter than I expected. The plan now is to just ride it, and I'm sure the more I ride it the more clear things will be (whether I need to change anything, etc.).

Amazing bike.
I'm still looking for a size 49 and I think I've managed it. It's a all black glossy paint frame with white letters. Warranty paint.

I'll have to do some modifications though.

Where did you get that seatpost? Not easy to find it.

Thanks!

[CrankAddictsRich]

Great looking bike Justin... awesome build.

The only thing I'd caution against when going super weight weenie, you often end up chasing a goal that makes no real differenc on the road and even makes the bike worse to ride... lots of extreme weight weenie parts come at a cost of durability and the bikes end up becoming trailer queens that can't be ridden hard. I'd had plenty of friends build super light bikes and none of them ever beat me up a hill on one of them.

[Cannondalerimbrake]

This is sweet, I am a rim brake fan too.

Beware when cutting Jagwire inner liners. One cut too short may cause you to buy a whole new pack

[OtterSpace]

And yup, the bike came with 28C tyres, which I think looked way more aggressive as it made the gaps between the rear tyre and seatpost tube way smaller (I love that look). So I'm tempted to get some 28's back on, but will at least live with these for a while.

Given your wheels are likely aero optimized for a 25 marked tire I'd stick with it on the front. However, nothing says you cant run different widths and have a wider one on the rear where comfort is more important and aero matters less.

I'm hoping the weight weenie disease will subside now that I've surpassed my goal of low 6kg's with this build, but there are a few small things I'm tempted to change:

EXTRALITE Cassette Lock Ring [-1.5g]
EXTRALITE Ahead Top Cap [-5.2]
EXTRALITE Expander UltraStar [-25g]
EXTRALITE Quickrelease Skewers [-13g]
EXTRALITE Handlebar Plugs [-7g]
JAGWIRE Elite Link [-40g]
Shortcage Derailleur Cage [-7g]

That's almost a 100g savings over what's on the bike at the moment without spending too much (I already have a spare short cage derailleur).

But where does it end? Gelu saddle, Darimo bars, stem and seatpost, 645g Brisk tubular wheelset, lighter chainrings... at that stage I'd be wishing I had an S-WORKS RTP frameset to dip into the 4kg mark! IE: I think I've got to be happy that the build has come out way lighter than I expected. The plan now is to just ride it, and I'm sure the more I ride it the more clear things will be (whether I need to change anything, etc.).

The disease doesn't really subside it just moves to other areas.

At a high level the SL6 rim is a great last of the rim brake bikes that is slightly aero while being light but not the lightest. I think you balanced what the platform is well without compromising anything to hit a magic number.

I'd save the super weenie stuff for a sub 5kg project if you ever get the itch. An aethos, some of the Chinese clones that evolved from it, or rim bikes (supersix rim & Izalco max) can hit sub 5 without compromising what those platforms are but the round section tubes in these bikes make them a bit slow for the same effort over a full ride. However, the uphill snap is something that has to be experienced to be believed. A murdered out very expensive SL8 can get near 5kg but I personally think you have to compromise what that bike is great at to hit such a low number.

I love extralite and use at least one of their parts on all my bikes. However I'd personally avoid a lot of their tuning parts especially the expander which puts a point load on the steerer. I can recommend swapping out the specialized expander for a carbon-Ti x-plug which is just a tiny bit heavier than extralite but way safer.

Also the extralite pulley wheels are nice but thats super diminishing returns for a super high cost and I wouldn't do it for this build.

After a bike is built and performing well its worth calculating $/g of any potential change and considering if you are loosing anything by changing the part. For most bikes I target $3.5 per g or less without compromising features of that part and I also factor in what I expect to net for selling the old part too. Due to this I often have Ultegra instead of Dura-Ace on my builds for shifting parts. After doing a few bikes now often times I'll even add weight and cost to increase usability, braking performance, or speed.

[justinfoxphotos]

I'm still looking for a size 49 and I think I've managed it. It's a all black glossy paint frame with white letters. Warranty paint.

Where did you get that seatpost? Not easy to find it.

Cheers! I actually just spotted an ultralight in size 49 pop up on Facebook Marketplace last night. Complete bike asking $4,400 AUD. They're out there! And seatpost I got from eBay. I have a Hylix on my Allez Sprint too and have had no issues with it at all (and I fiddle with it a LOT to get my fit dialled). No slippage, no creaks. Perfect.

The only thing I'd caution against when going super weight weenie, you often end up chasing a goal that makes no real differenc on the road and even makes the bike worse to ride... lots of extreme weight weenie parts come at a cost of durability and the bikes end up becoming trailer queens that can't be ridden hard.

Cheers Rich. I'm 100% with you (as always!). I once built up a Ti MTB and learned this lesson the hard way. Got the number I was after, but it was unridable out on my local trail, so much so that I sold it after the first ride.

That said I can't say that I'm in love with the SL6 (yet?!). The Allez Sprint snaps my neck every time. Just obsessed with the deep wheels and how it looks so fast standing still. That and the feeling of speed when riding the Allez is where it's at for me.

I can say though that the SL6 has stopped me from wanting to make the Allez any lighter (no longer trying to find a lighter wheelset), and I won't be taking the Allez out on rainy rides anymore from now on (I suppose the SL6 is my "winter bike").

Beware when cutting Jagwire inner liners. One cut too short may cause you to buy a whole new pack

Haha cheers for the tip! I'm still hesitant to go there though. 100% they would be lighter AND feel smoother, but looks matter to me too much (I just think they look so ugly!).

The disease doesn't really subside it just moves to other areas.

I love extralite and use at least one of their parts on all my bikes. However I'd personally avoid a lot of their tuning parts especially the expander which puts a point load on the steerer. I can recommend swapping out the specialized expander for a carbon-Ti x-plug which is just a tiny bit heavier than extralite but way safer.

Agree with everything you said. I've managed to scratch my weight weenie itch with this build. It's the lightest bike I've ever built so I'm happy with that.

That said I saw a local seller put up some new unused Extralite parts on FB Marketplace late last night and I bought what he had to sell. One of the items was the expander plug, which sure as hell looks damn dodgey to me, but I figure it's designed to work well with the Extralite stem's bolting points? I'll see how I go with it when it arrives.

[CrankAddictsRich]

Cheers Rich. I'm 100% with you (as always!). I once built up a Ti MTB and learned this lesson the hard way. Got the number I was after, but it was unridable out on my local trail, so much so that I sold it after the first ride.

That said I can't say that I'm in love with the SL6 (yet?!). The Allez Sprint snaps my neck every time. Just obsessed with the deep wheels and how it looks so fast standing still. That and the feeling of speed when riding the Allez is where it's at for me.

I can say though that the SL6 has stopped me from wanting to make the Allez any lighter (no longer trying to find a lighter wheelset), and I won't be taking the Allez out on rainy rides anymore from now on (I suppose the SL6 is my "winter bike").

Hahahaha... you got that backward, man. The disc brake, non-carbon bike should be the winter bike... although ideally, the way you have the Allez set up, its not really a winter bike either.

In my head, the Allez is my winter bike, but I probably use them equally. Actually the Crux gets used a lot more in the winter, on the road... also my mountain bike gets a lot more use.

Just picked up a new MTB, so I can't wait for that to arrive and get it set up.

[justinfoxphotos]

Hahahaha... you got that backward, man. The disc brake, non-carbon bike should be the winter bike...

Just picked up a new MTB, so I can't wait for that to arrive and get it set up.

Bahahaha so true lol! And man I really planned to get back on the MTB when I started riding again, but 4 months in I'm legit a roadie now. Blows my mind.

Will have to get out on the trails again, maybe even take the gravel bike in an attempt to avoid the gnarly loops.

[Singlish]

That said I can't say that I'm in love with the SL6 (yet?!). The Allez Sprint snaps my neck every time. Just obsessed with the deep wheels and how it looks so fast standing still. That and the feeling of speed when riding the Allez is where it's at for me.

Sounds like you need to get some deep wheels for the SL6 then, and black friday sales are not far away.

[Primera23]

Holy crap! Forget about those bikes, I want to know more about that R32 This has to be the cleanest one I have ever seen. And I have seen them brand new when they came out. Absolutely stunning!

[justinfoxphotos]

Holy crap! Forget about those bikes, I want to know more about that R32 This has to be the cleanest one I have ever seen. And I have seen them brand new when they came out. Absolutely stunning!

Haha TY.

It's not as clean as the photos now. Like all R32 GT-R's on the planet, rust has appeared in the usual places. It's just about to get stripped down to the chassis for a legit restoration (will be painting it the same colour).


Made for the track.


I wasn't lying about going full weight weenie on my GT-R. Carbon radiator brackets and I have a full carbon driveshaft too.

Won't litter this thread with anymore car stuff though, but if you'd like to know more about the car you can check this feature: https://www.speedhunters.com/2011/03/ca ... _r32_gt_r/

[justinfoxphotos]

Extralite UltraStar 4 expander (surprisingly the original Specialized expander plug was already quite light at 28g).


Extralite ExtraBolt 3.6 Cassette Lock ring (Ultegra lock ring was 5g).



I spotted these Extralite bits on eBay, then managed to find the local seller on FB Marketplace. He gave me a good deal for taking both so I pounced.

Weight has now gone down from 5.60kg to 5.57kg.

[justinfoxphotos]

More Extralite goodies came in the mail today from R2 Bike. Shipped Express it took only a couple of nights whearas my first order for the Ceramicspeed headset dust cover has taken over a month and is still not here... (lesson learnt!).




3g.


How sexy is this thing?!


15mm spacer (to be installed once my Ceramicspeed headset dust cover arrives). 2g .


Extralite bar end plugs.


I love them.


Extralite QR skewers.




Original SRAM Red 22 chainrings (big ring alone was 127g).





SPECS:

2018 Specialized S-WORKS Women's (unisex) Tarmac SL6 Size 52
Frame: Hopp frame insert (1g) + S-WORKS bottle cage bolts (2g)
Seatpost: Hylix 365mm (119g)
Saddle: Berk Lupina short padded (90g)
Stem: Extralite Hyperstem Stealth 100mm -12 degree (76g)
Spacer: Extralite 2.5mm (1g)
Expander Plug: Extralite UltraStar 4 (5g)
Top Cap/Bolt: Extralite Ahead Top Cap (3g)
Bars: EXS R175 360mm (175g)
Bar Tape: EXS Airtape (30g)
Bar Ends: Extralite (2g)
Shifters/Brake Levers: SRAM Red eTap (267g)
Front Derailleur: SRAM Red eTap (164g)
Rear Derailleur: SRAM Red eTap (245g)
Cranks: SRAM Red 167.5 (363g)
Chainrings: Extralite Mid Compact Octaramp 50/34 (93g)
Brakes: Cane Creek eeBrakes for SL6 +adapter (176g)
Brake Cables: Jagwire + black teflon coated inners + hardware (76g)
Pedals: Xpedo Thrust SL Titanium (165g)
Bottle Cage: CarbonWorks + cage bolts (9g)
Wheelset: Wheelsfar Feder 45mm Extralite hubs Sapim CX-Super spokes (1280g)
Cassette: ZTTO SLR Gen3 11 Speed ​​11-28 (110g)
Cassette Lock Ring: Extralite ExtraBolt 3.6 (3g)
Chain: KMC X11SL (213g)
QR Skewers: Extralite (29g)
Tyres: Panaracer Agilest Light 25mm (335g)
Tubes: RideNow TPU Road Light (71g)

Weight: 5.46kg

[Butcher]

Nice build and good read. I recently got an 56cm UItralight SL6 with a SR12 build. I hope by the end of winter, it will be a EPS12 build. After reading your build, I suspect I will be in the same ball park with the weight. At least a goal to shoot for.

I do agree, if it is so lightweight that it becomes a problem/too scared to ride, then it's not worth it.

[stevec1975]

Amazing build, love the Extralite stuff, just looks right. although, in the last pic (EL Rings on the Red Crank) are you rings positioned correctly? The 'catch' pin should be orientated in one of 2 holes, in your case, behind the crankarm/not visible.