Category Archives: Bike

1141g for the set.

My CRW wheels came in super quick from Panda Podium and I was even faster getting them on the SL8. Since they have a 24mm internal width I had to give up the 26C Pirelli’s I just recently fitted to my Roval CLX II’s, so for now I’ve put on a 29C Aero 111 on the front, and a 28C GP5000 TT on the back.

Front Inner width: 24
Front Outer width (brake track): 29.5
Front Outer width (widest point): 31.6
Rear Inner width: 24
Rear Outer width (brake track): 29.5
Rear Outer width (widest point): 31.6

SL8 weight has now dropped down to 5.68kg’s! Do I miss the look of deeper wheels? Yup, but after one ride on these I can confirm that they feel radically different to the Rovals. Just some initial first ride notes below:

– The first thing I noticed was the sound the front wheel makes. A pleasant hum which I put down to the carbon spokes.

– In the saddle all low gradient hills just feel that much more effortless, but the biggest change is in out of saddle sprints. The bike just accelerates so much faster and feels so much livelier and more playful than ever before. It’s actually quite addicting.

– I didn’t at all feel less discomfort from the extra stiffness of the carbon spokes. I put this down to running lower (60PSI) pressure on wider (29C/28C) tyres vs. 75PSI in my previous 26C tyres.

– The freehub sound is VERY quiet which was a bit of a surprise (and a little bit of a disappointment as I actually like loud freehubs). The Roval CLX II’s were dead silent when I first got them and only started to make sound when I took apart the hub to remove some grease. I could probably do the same to the CRW’s but I’ve decided to just leave them as is and see if they’ll get louder over time.

All in all I’m really happy with the purchase and more than happy to leave them on the bike. I’ll gather more data over the next few weeks, as I know that what “feels” fast isn’t necessarily faster, but right now I’m pretty excited at just how much more lively and fun the bike is to ride.

PS: I’ve got some slightly lighter Pirelli P Zero Race RS Clinchers in 28C (would only save me 40g over my current setup), but figure the TT and Aero 111 setup probably has lower rolling resistance so I’ll leave the setup as is.

Quality hangs with Sam at CCACHE who installed a custom set of JUIN ETF-A brake calipers on my SL8.

Also got to meet Rob from RIDE Media and lucky enough to get a copy of his labour of love, the official 2025 TDF guide.

For the Dogma F.

SPECS:

2025 S-Works Tarmac SL8
Gloss Dove Grey / Silver Dust Blurred Impasto / Black Pearl
Size 52

Brake Rotors: Galfer E1 160mm/140mm (97g/79g)
Brake Pads: Absolute Black Graphen (42g)
Brake Adapter: Chaser (7g)
Brake Calipers: SRAM Red E1 (314g)
Shift Levers: SRAM RED E1 (404g)
Rear Derailleur: SRAM RED E1 (260g)
Derailleur Hanger: Silca Titanium (11g)
Batteries: Red AXS E1 (25g/25g)
Cassette: SRAM RED 10-33t (211g)
Chain: SRAM RED E1 (232g)
Crankset: SRAM RED E1 crankset 160mm (312g)
Chainring: Gemini 46T chainring (95g)
Pedals: Xpedo Thrust SL Titanium (165g)
Bottom Bracket: SRAM DUB BSA 68 (73g)
Front Wheel: Roval Rapide CLX II 51mm (710g)
Rear Wheel: Roval Rapide CLX II 60mm (810g)
Thru Axles: RideNow Titanium (27g)
Tyres: P Zero Race RS Clincher 26C (222g/224g)
Inner Tubes: Magene Exar TPU 75mm Front, 75mm Rear (36g/36g)
Lockrings: Absolute Black (5g/5g)
Stem: Roval Rapide Cockpit 380mm/90mm (299g)
Compression Plug: Tune Xpanda + Extralite top cap bolt (7g)
Top Cap: Hopp + bolt (4g)
Bar Ends: Lucendi UL (2g)
Bar Tape: Burgh CCACHE
Saddle: Berk Lupina Short 132mm (90g)
Seatpost: Darimo 0mm offset (104g)
Bottle Cage: CarbonWorks + bolts (9g)
Bolts: Better Bolts Ti bolt kit

WEIGHT: 5.95kg

46T Gemini chainring arrived in the mail. Thing of beauty! 95g on my scales.

His and Hers.

Finally got around to chopping the chimney.

Back in black. Off with the Corsa PRO Speeds, on with Pirelli P Zero Race RS clinchers in 26C.

160mm cranks from my Allez Sprint (still waiting for my Gemini chainring to arrive).

Going down!

Still to fit: Custom order JUIN ETF-A. Weight Weenie brakes at 71g per caliper.

LOL.

Less on learned? Do not use quick links twice.

Crazy light (OEM axles weighed 52g a pair).

I’m always on the lookout for lighter parts for the SL8. Overfast carbon thru axles have always been tempting but I’ve never been confident about using carbon for such a crucial part.

I’ve had my eye on the EXS titanium thru axles on the Panda Podium online shop ever since building up my Allez Sprint, and more recently I went to check them out again and found that Joe is now selling RideNow Titanium Thru Axles for the SL8 which not only come in lighter, but slightly cheaper too so I ordered a set.

They came in a nice wooden box and weighed in at 25g. I got to installing them but found that they sunk in way past the fork and frame (the OEM thru axles sit very flush). I sent a message off to Joe at Panda Podium and after sending some photos he got back to me to let me know that RideNow had forgotten to include spacers in my package.

He very quickly sent me 2 spacers, they’re conical, but very thin, and whilst they have stopped the axles threading out on the other side, the head of the axles still sits further into the frame. Not the best looking IMHO, bit of a shame.

It’s advised that you do not grease these axles like you do the OEM ones, instead you use Anti-Seize Compound (lucky I had some from my Better Bolts Ti bolt kit). And the torque recommendation is 10nm instead of 15nm (as suggested by Specialized).

No issues so far. Bike weighs in at 6.46kg’s now.