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Hi all,
I found a Tarmac Expert SL5 – rim brakes 2015 – with Roval CLX40 for around 800£ - group set all Ultegra 6800 and S-Works carbon handlebar. Frame and wheels are pristine. This is the good part – bad part is poor maintenance: chainrings, rear derailleur (maybe) and cassette need replacement at some point, bearings need to be checked (wheels were spinning fine and no weird noises but not sure about the shape of those ceramicspeed though). Also, the handlebar is wider 44cm than my actual one 42cm – but I have quite broad shoulders - Is this a good deal? (I need to budget also for a good alloy wheelset, I don’t have a winter bike)
I do have a Tarmac SL6 sport disc with 105 though – tempted to sell – but I wanted to go down the rim brake path to have a slimmer bike with better (I know it’s marginal) carbon frame. Would you keep the SL6 instead with a nice carbon wheelset upgrade? (FYI, I’m 5.10 – 178cm and 69kg so not much to lose there). Many thanks!
You don’t like being able to stop / slow down in the wet then? I hated rim brakes on all my road bikes - hydraulic discs were a revelation.
I’m not up on my Spec road bikes but what’s better about an SL5 frame vs an Sl6 frame?
I think I’d invest the money into nicer wheels for your current bike - I think for £800 you can get some pretty light Hunt carbon wheels.
Also sounds like a load of money needs to be spent on the sl5 - cassette and chain are reasonably cheap but if it needs new rings I’m always amazed how expensive they are.
Thanks - it all makes sense, I always thought my 105 SL6 Sport Tarmac is on the heavy side - 8.8kg with pedals - the SL5 with CLX 40 wheels around 7.2/3.. but I guess a nice pair of wheels on the SL6 (Hunt, Scribe, Farsport, Parcour and so on) + handlebar will change the feeling. The SL5 has Factor 10 carbon while the SL6 Factor 9 but I am not sure is something that I will notice.
I'd stick with the SL6 and get some better wheels and a lighter cassette. Then maybe a lighter chainset. I've got an SL6 expert with the aero post and wouldn't swap if for anything.
I think the weight difference between a Fact 9r frame and Fact 10r frame is around 180g so unlikely you’ll notice the difference in frame weight.
Personally I would spend the money on upgrades to the SL6 disc. If it’s still standard spec I bet you could save a lot of weight with a few upgrades. I did similar with my SL7 and surprising how quick the weight savings add up.
Going back to rim brakes from discs would be a definite downgrade for me even if it was a bit lighter.
I’ve had a Tarmac SL5 expert, SWorks SL5 and currently own an SL6, albeit SWorks.
The SL5 expert was a very wooden bike to ride and it wasn’t just the wheels, the SL6 will undoubtedly be a nicer bike to ride although marginally heavier, it will also take wider tyres if that’s a requirement.
My current SWorks is heavier than my old rim brake SL5 SWorks, but no way I’d want the SL5 back!
Thanks. I have heard about the wooden feel with the SL5 frame..that's something else to consider. Out of curiosity was it the same for the SL5 SWorks frame?