Category Archives: Bike

Hylix seatpost came in the mail today!

Condor Ti Skewers.

Sexy.

Some more parts for the SL6 came in the mail today. Almost there!

Today I took delivery of a set of SL6 specific Cane Creek eeBrakes which I sourced from Cycling Upgrades in the USA. These have been an object of desire for me for many years (just never had the right bike to put them on!), they’re insanely light and I love how mechanical they look (form follows function!).

I’ve yet to get my hands on an adapter I need to get the rear caliper on the bike, but I have one in transit en-route from Carousell in Singapore.

Frame weight with headset and BB bearings. Looks like my frame is one of those heavier outliers!

Fork weight with cut steerer.

Massive, ugly and heavy conical spacer/dust cover (replacing with a much thinner one).

Seatpost + carbon rail clamp.

I have a Hoff carbon replacement coming to replace this frame bung.

Medium cage, will replace with lighter short cage.

Porky campy calipers.

Brake cable inners and outers were heavier than I thought. Not going to go those weenie link ones though as I absolutely hate how they look.

Extralite 120mm -6. Was on sale so I pulled the trigger on it, but would have preffered a 110mm -12. Will have to see how it fits (and looks).

ZTTO gen 3 11-28 cassette. So light!

Berk Lipa, was also on sale otherwise would have gotten another Lupina short.

Rode in the rain the other day (Allez Sprint) and now I see why so many people seem to have a “winter bike”. The drivetrain is full of sand, and oil from the road has now contaminated my disc brakes (they now make a deafeningly loud squeal!). Spent some good time cleaning up the drivetrain, bought some brake cleaner for the brakes, might avoid riding in the rain from now on.

Weather has been absolutely crap lately (I’m getting anxiety from not being able to go out and ride!). Perfect weather to be building up a bike, except I’m still waiting for so many parts. I thought I’d at least take everything off the frame in preparation.

Cane Creek eeBrake SL6 adapter.

Photo of an adapter fitted in place.

Caliper mounted to the adapter.

The adapter pushes the caliper outward so the brakes don’t hit the seat tube.

Call me a hippy, but I strongly believe in the power of manifestation.

Now that I have a rim brake bike I can finally put on some Cane Creek eeBrakes (some of the lightest rim brake calipers ever sold, also some of the most costly!). Turns out I need an SL6 specific rear caliper and an adapter to get them to fit on my size 52 frame, and guess what? The adapter is no longer in production!

I’ve spent the past week looking for one. Jing at CCACHE let e know that if I do find one, he can scan it and re-make them, so I’ve posted WTB’s on Facebook and the Weight Weenie forums too. I even sent the Cane Creek guys this email:

Hi guys,

The eeBrakes have been an object of desire for me for MANY years. I’ve just never had a bike I deemed worthy enough to put them on, until now!

I’ve just scored a gorgeous Specialized S-WORKS SL6 Tarmac (it’s literally in NOS condition) and the first thing I want to put on it it are eeBrakes, but in doing some research, it looks like I need an adaptor to make the rear brake fit as it’s a size 52 frame.

I’ve searched the entire internet for an adaptor with no luck. My local bike shop CCACHE (who sell eeBrakes) have suggested that I’m doomed as they’re no longer in production.

I’m heartbroken… seriously!

I’m 49, recently sold my house, so now I can finally afford nice things! Is there any chance at all that you might re-stock these?

Thanks in advance for any help!

They sent me an awesome response:

We do appreciate your support and excitment with our eeBrakes.
I have 3 sets (Regular Mount) on my bikes and very happy with them.

Yes – your SL6 Direct Mount design frameset does require the adaptor.
You have done your homework and it is a unique part that was specifically designed for that model.
The 54cm and smaller frames require it to align the caliper to function as required.
Also, the caliper has a ‘short’ arm lever. This is needed for the deep aero seat tube and ensures it will clear the frame.

I imagine that you are going to have some challenges finding this part.
​​I will pass this request over to our product development team for their review.

This morning I went on a search again for the Cane Creek SL6 eeBrake adapter. I clicked every link only to find, again, that every single place that has the adapter listed in their online shop is out of stock, but then… holy crap! I found someone in Singapore selling them on Carousell.

Listing reads:
Only compatible with Specialized Tarmac SL6 frame
-Material: aluminum ( Mounting Screws are not included)
-Bike body mounting: Direct Mount

I created an account, but can’t chat to the seller as I don’t have a local number. I’ve since found a broker in Singapore who can buy the item, then send it to me. This is looking good!

What’s old is new again. I made a batch of these T’s over 10 years ago, still going strong!

Thought I’d drop into CCACHE instead of dealing with Sunday Riders and Sydney traffic at Centennial Park.

Picked up some old SRAM Red cranks.

Some super lightweight Japanese tyres.

And some lightweight tubes too.

Dropped in to CCACHE to pick up a few things for the SL6 today. That’s a weight savings of 699g over the parts that came off the bike! Weeeeeeeee(nie!).

As light as pedals get! Got another set of Xpedo Thrusts for the SL6.

Out of anger and frustration with not receiving the cheap kit from AliExpress I splashed out on some MAAP gear. 10x more expensive than the cheap China stuff but I feel better for supporting local. At least now I can look fast going slow?!

Whoomp! There It Is!

Ultegra cassette. I’ve ordered a Goldix 11-28 which manufacturer says weighs in at a silly 110g.

Will look into some light Ti skewers. I’m 100% sure I still have a few KCNC skewers in storage, somewhere.

Old tubes (will replace with RideNow TPU tubes with the pink valves at 36g each).

Weight of the GP 4000’s. Not as heavy as I thought they would be for 28’s, will still look for something lighter though, may even go down to 25C.

Weight of both Zipp 202’s combined. Would love to get a sub 1kg wheelset but struggling to find much out there in rim brake land, that and I think I want 45 deep wheels just to make the bike actually look good.

Woke up to yet another rainy day, so I decided to start stripping the SL6 down and get down to the bottom of where all the weight lies. Turns out everything on this frame is heavy! I’m thinking a low to mid 6kg build might not be so easy unless I get another set of wheels. We’ll see!

First world problems. Should I buy another pair of shoes for these LOOK KEO Blade pedals or should I just buy another pair of pedals so I can use the one pair of shoes between the SL6 and the Allez? The Xpedo pedals I have on the Sprint weigh in at 166.2g so I decided to put an order in for another set for the SL6.

Whacked on my old XTR SPD pedals and met up with Nick at CP for a few laps this morning. Saddle was a bit high, but it’s not going to take me long to get the fit dialled in. Gears shift so good, as good if not better than the SRAM RED E1 on my Allez. The Allez definitely feels faster though, both in the saddle and out of the saddle.

Nick.

Cracker of a day.

Jen K’s beautiful SL6.

This Florence Broadhurst detail is everything.

Ran into Jennifer Kay at the cafe and blurted out “Hey I’ve seen you on YouTube!”. LOL I crack myself up (100% I must have come across as a creeper), but she’s the main inspiration behind me buying the SL6 after watching this video. Seeing her bike in real life and having a chat about it was awesome. She had her frame custom painted, and all the intricate details are made of gold leaf (especially love the inside fork detail inspired by Australian mid century interior designer Florence Broadhurst). Follow her: @jenniferlouisek