ravenmore

A friend of mine picked this bike up as new old stock (NOS). It was a 2005 but had never been built or ridden. The frame ended up being a little big for him so he ended up not riding it (he has 30'ish bikes roughly). We put together a ride one weekend but my bike ended up having some kind of major mechanical, so he lent it to me. I was so impressed with the ride I told him if he ever wanted to sell it to let me know. Nearly a year later I got the call.

Still working on building to my taste. I just added the Rol Volant wheels. I'll probably also get a set of Rol Race Sl's. Changed out the saddle to a Flite Team as well. I'm going to add Ritchey Wet White Evo curve handlebars, Thomson silver road stem, and maybe a Thomson Silver Zero set back seat post (worried that might make the ride a bit harsh). Am also thinking about the previous generation of Dura Ace crankset.

These are great bikes. They were a top end model from Specialized at the time and I'm told there was a lot of by hand attention to the frame building. The welds are immaculate. They're very comfortable for an aluminum bike, although they have a short wheel base and are twitchy. The first race I did on it I had to go to the back of the pack and get used to the handling - it got in and out off the turns a lot quicker and I wasn't doing a good job of holding my line.

[IMG][/IMG]

Shuke

Those bikes always look hot. I'm a bit biased towards the laser red E5's but that looks good too.

ravenmore

Thanks - yeah, I really like the red/black version as well. You can buy these pretty cheap off of ebay these days so maybe I'l pick one of those up too.

eippo1

Nice. I love those bike. Had a chance to buy one a while ago, but got a celeste Bianchi instead.

ADSR

I have a 2004 red frameset in my closet right now. I can't wait to get it built.

miwoodar

I have the same frame in red. It's the best road bike I've ever owned (ahem, it's the only road bike I've ever owned). I like it though and I'm glad to continue to see people saying it's a good frame. I knew very little about it when I picked it up.

Is there a dent in your chain stay?

ravenmore

No dent. I've owned several newer model bikes (including a couple carbon bikes) but this is my favorite that I've owned so far. Awesome riding bike.

garysol1 

I miss my S-Works E5. It truly is one of the nicest aluminum frames out there. Enjoy it

TMonk

What wheels/group are you throwin on that bad boy?

grolby

The picture is a bit out of date, but you get the idea. This is my race bike, and it would be hard to do better. The handling is excellent, very fast and razor sharp. The frame is in the 1200 gram range, which is in the same ballpark as a lot of carbon frames (e.g. Cervelo S2). Every now and then I think about a new bike, but if I really want to go better there's still room to improve on this one. And I just really love the way this one rides.

ravenmore

That's the stem and seat post I was thinking of putting on mine (only I was going to do silver). Someone mentioned the Thomson zero set back post might ride a little harsh on this bike. How's it been for you?

Yeah, it feels light for an aluminum frame. With some rather heavy components on it now it still tips the scales around 17.5 pounds. I think with the right components it could be a solid 15 pound bike.

ADSR

2009 Veloce with Centaur crank, Fulcrum 5s, 3T Rotundo/Arx and very likely a Fizik Aliante saddle. Everything except the stem/saddle I already have.

lechat

love these frames.

https://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...D#ht_951wt_936

grolby

Best seatpost ever. I love it, because I never have to think about it. The ride isn't any different than my old (setback) seatpost, and I don't see how that would make a noticeable difference for most designs. In any case, ride quality is pretty much the last priority for choosing a seatpost, especially when you're deciding how much setback you need. They don't effect it enough to be really important, and setback is about fitting the bike correctly, not ride quality.

Hida Yanra

1) that bike is awesome. It is on my short list of bikes I wish I had (and there aren't hardly any bikes on that list)
2) buy thomson gear - forget about it.... best stuff around.

good job on that bike.

ravenmore

I have a Thomson Masterpiece on my carbon bike, but have the advantage of the carbon frame. I do love their seatosts and stems.

novacoke

I picked up a used 2003 s-works E5 Aerotec frame at a bicycle co-op and built 'er up with 105 (my first modern road bike). I love the bike. The aerotec I'm riding now had major wheel rub on the right chainstay (showing bare alu), which somewhat concerns me.

Questions for you multi-bike owners - are the new Allez frames (2011 E5 alu) comparable to the old s-works models? How about the CAAD9 or CAAD10 frames?

garysol1 

Yes, the new E5 are very comparable to the older S-Works E5 frame. It is made with the same tubing and very close to the same geometry save for a slightly taller head tube on the new model. While the new frame does not have that beautifuly formed seat tube it does have an oversized head tube and bearing which more than makes up for it in my opinion. I do wish the new model still included a full carbon fork but that was down graded to an carbon leg/aluminum steerer.

ravenmore

Well - I've been upgrading this build and I think I'm finally to a stopping point.