Shuke

They show up on eBay occasionally and have been liking their price and geometry but haven't been gutsy enough to pick one up until tonight. I went back to ebay to buy-it-now but somebody already flippin' bought-it-now. Are specialized retailers likely to have these in new-old-stock at their distributor? Are there frames out there like them from different manufacturers? Are the odds good that another 56 will show up on eBay within the next few weeks?

lechat

they show up from time to time. people buy frames with good intentions and they never get built. some are probably LBS old stock. just set your search parameters and Bookmark it. I've bought 2 frames BIN. a '05 Spec. Roubaix and a '03 Caad7 Optimo, both NOS, for < $300 each. shipped.

kabex

Just buy the 2011 allez frameset. $550 you can't get a better deal anywhere else, that frame is money.

cbfight

this is good advice. I have one coming in the mail as a back up frame. It's a little heavy, but it's stiff and nimble.

thirdgenbird

i want an e5 as well...

kabex

Do me a favour, weight the whole thing(frame,fork,headset,seat post) when it you get it. What size is it?

I'm thinking of a build but need to know the specific weight in order to accommodate other components for a target weight. Aluminium frames increase like 50-100gr per size right?

fastbub

They are a great aluminum frame. I have bought two on ebay. One is a NOS Zebra stripe E5 frameset, and t one is a used complete bike, matte silver with dura ace 7800 for 700 bones. I love the geometry of the bikes and the price. The weight is good for an aluminum frame and they come with a full carbon fork.

The 2011 Allez frame as some are suggesting, has different geometry and the fork has an aluminum steerer tube.

If you keep after it you can easily find a used E5 frameset for around 300. Especially a 56 which is a common size. I had to look a little longer because I ride a 50 and they are a little fewer and further between on the bay.

ravenmore

Here's my E5.



Mine was NOS. I prefer these over the Allez which evolved from this frame. The seat tube is beautiful and the welds are immaculate. The bike is very stiff in the sense it doesn't flex a bit when you hammer on it, but it rides very very nice for an aluminum frame. It has a very short wheel base and might feel twitchy at first. Gets in and out of corners like a cheetah and climbs like a scalded cat. I prefer it over my newer carbon Giant TCR actually. Fantastic value.

ravenmore

Btw - my bike is 16.5 pounds roughly (ditched the EA30 post pictured though for a Thomson Masterpiece I had on hand). If I upgrade a few things the bike should easily come in somewhere in the 15 pound range.

Flash

Here's mine. It's a 2002, I found it NOS on ebay and built it up with full Rival, neuvation m-28s, ritchey wcs alu seatpost, fsa-0s99 stem, FSA wing pro alu compact bars. 52cm frame comes in at approx 16.8 lbs. I second Ravenmore's comments. And the welds are magnificent. I've got something like 1500 miles on it. It's love. cheers

lechat

Would love to build up a Cipollini zebra frame. just need to convince myself i need a 4th bike!

Shuke

How can it be NOS when Father Mario graced its saddle with his behind?

I'll roll over to the LBS today or so to see if they have any. What I don't like about the new allez is the tapered headtube which would be fine if i came with a full carbon fork but it comes with that boat-anchor-looking aluminum steerer tube fork and a new tapered carbon fork is as much as the frame itself. I would love to see weights of the frame and fork separate just to get an idea of what I'm looking at.

Padley

Sorry to be the NOOB but is there something special about the e5 frameset? The reason I ask is that I just picked up my first bike and it's an 05 Allez Elite triple with an e5 slx frame. Just trying to up my knowledge

ravenmore

The SWorks E5 was a top end bike for Specialized when they were made I believe. I've been told a lot of by hand attention went into the building of the frames. The are pretty light (about 1100 - 1200 grams) and have a lively ride, but not teeth jaring like a lot of other aluminum bikes. Very stiff and short wheel base. Quick handling. Seattube has a unique (and IMO beautiful) aerodynamic shape and the bike came with a very light all carbon fork. IMO it is one of the best aluminum bikes made.

ravenmore

Oh - also it started as a Sworks E5 bike that evolved into the Allez (I think) that uses Columbus E5 tubing, but the geometry and some of the details about the frame are different.

Padley

Cool, thanks for the info!

BIG EYE

Here is one if you are looking for a complete bike......

https://cgi.ebay.com/Specialized-S-WO...item230c1a7a75

Just read through it, and it doesn't come with wheels, but looks like it includes everything else....

topflightpro

I have one hanging on the wall in my garage.

I picked it up on Craigslist for $100, w/o fork. except for a few nicks in the paint, it looked fantastic.

I raced it the last two seasons. It was an awesome bike. Tremendously stiff and handled well.

Unfortunately, I crashed last April and put a dent in the top tube. It was fine for awhile, but the top tube started getting wavy-looking around the dent, and a crack started to form along the top of the tube. So I got a Caad 9 to replace it.

Now it just hangs in my garage, next to my old Six-13, which I also cracked after crashing in a race.

If I remember correctly, RA Cycles has some new ones still available as complete bikes on its clearance page. Not sure what sizes though.

ravenmore

They have one bike and one frame - both 52cm. Both look very nice. The complete bike looks like an incredible build.

Odin99

murdered out. sold it this past summer.

ravenmore

that's the first all black one I've seen.

caloso

Nice. It's like a Skunkworks version.

Shuke

Yeah I saw that and it looked tempting until I saw the big ding in the headtube. Plus I wasn't sure what I could get the used DA for on ebay slash didn't want to have to put more stuff on ebay than absolutely necessary.

grolby

Suddenly these things are all the rage! That makes me happy; I love mine (2004, red and white). I picked it up as an NOS frameset from the LBS in 2008. It was around that time (2004) that CF mania took off, and they just couldn't sell it, so I got it at pretty near to cost. It's a fantastic frame - light, stiff, great handling, rides pretty well. I think WW measured a 56 at 1230 or 1250 grams. Mine is a 52. My build isn't especially weight conscious, but it's about 16.7 lbs with Rival and CK/Kinlin wheels (courtesy Psimet).