S-Works Tarmac E5
 

A local guy is selling a 2006 Specialized S-Works tarmac frameset. It is in really good shape, and he is only asking like $400. It is one of those half aluminum and half carbon frames, but everytime I try to find some info about them all the reviews are mixed. One guy said it was "the worst frame ever" and said it split like 100 miles after he bought the frame. While another swore up and down it was the best. I was just wondering if anyone had any experience with these and if they know about their durability, ride, etc?

the carbon is probably in the fork and in the seat stays. i always wanted one because they were considered a very good crit racing bike. 400 dollars seems like a reasonable price as i have seem them go for that price on ebay. the other thing you could do is to wait awhile and buy an awesome bike for 2 grand because thats where things get AWESOME.

$400 can get you a decent frame in the used market, so unless you have some special sentiment for that Tarmac, you should look around a bit more. For $400 I would rather get one of those chinese carbon fiber framesets on ebay.

do an Ebay completed search. the way frame prices have come down lately, i doubt he would get that much there. unless it's in NOS condition.

no

no

he's talking about the ones that came out in '06 that have the carbon top tube/seatstays. A lot of average reviews compared to the all Al version

The Tarmac doesn't have the reputation of the S-Works E5. They're not the same frame. Personally, I'm distrustful of dual-material frames - it's just gimmicky - and they're quite a bit heavier than the full aluminum frame. I'm fairly certain that the geometry is the same, but I don't know how they feel. Strange as it might seem, I don't think they're as desirable (in a market sense) as the aluminum E5s. $400 isn't amazing for a used aluminum/carbon Tarmac, particularly given that they're bonded aluminum and carbon.

I was fairly sketch about the idea of a bonded material also. I previously rode the sworks e5 and loved it, just outgrew it and can not seem to find another in my size so thats why I was looking into this one...

Thanks for the input though

As has been eluded to by others in this thread, this frame doesn't have the reputation of the all aluminum S-Works E5. That's the one you want.