I don't think I could foist such a flawed frame on some other sad sack. I'd lay awake at night thinking about the poor bastid jolting along some road... butt numb... brain addled by CTE from the repeated harsh blows passed along- nay, amplified!- by this abomination of a bike frame.

When his kin went to dispose of his now-gelatinous remains, they'd curse my very name. Can't have that kind of karma working against me. No, i'll likely just toss the frame in the dumpster (after rendering it inoperable) and use the components for a build.

(Campag, I think you are rushing to judgement and using the "anecdotes = data" method to boot. You'll be able to test-ride an SL4 soon enough.....)

You are just the sort of gentlemen who deserves such a frameset. Enjoy the ride Tom.

Brutal! Zing!

Well, I had that coming. :)

Well....... holy carp...... as fate would have it, I just got "the call" from my LBS... my Expert is in and built TWO MONTHS EARLY!

I will soon have an experience-based opinion.... at least with a SL4 10r. Now I have to avoid the mental trap of being a fanboy for something I just spent a ton of money on! :)

its a great bike and you will likely love it. Also depends on the type of roads you ride. Tires and even rim width and spoke count etc are all huge to ride quality. No doubt you will tune it to how you like.

I'm a definite +1 on that!

I've no other modern frame of reference for bikes except my 14 Roubaix SL4 (1400 miles) and 14 Cervelo R5(340 miles now as of today!).

I find both equally enjoyable, tho as mentioned before the compact crank and overall better comfort for me. Makes the Roubaix my century bike.
Again only the personal opinion of a mediocre and very inexperienced rider. ;)

I'm such a noob, it'll be a while before I wrap a brain around it. In fact I'll be biting my tongue in an effort to not opine too much.

Hi Zvez,
You are indeed a lucky man to own two such outstanding road bikes. Cycling press loves the new R5..a bike I have personally considered. Sounds as though you feel the SL4 Roubaix is right in there if not the best bike for long rides. Tall praise. Not saying the Roubaix and R5 are exactly in the same category...but why not consider a S5 or Venge as a stablemate for the Roubaix?...recognizing that both are a bit stiffer likely than your R5...but at least a bit more of a contrast to the SL4 Roubaix. Did you ride any of the aero bikes when you chose the R5?

I think my tire pressure may be a bit high too, exacerbating the situation. I use the other pump and it seems to be 5-6 psi too high, so I lowered it to a real 100. The impacts were less jarring. I am just referring to the couple dozen or so gaps- the overall ride was pretty smooth. However, it was so windy that my 43.5 miles felt like 60. It was 30-40 mph, gusting to 50+...mainly from the front of front-right...horrible. Anyway, to reward myself for putting up with that, I picked up a Cobl Gobl'r post. With each long ride, I am liking the bike more. Not sure I need to (at 180 lbs) go over 100 psi at the bike, do I?

actually I didn't but the S5 is on my list perhaps next year. No real plan, the Roubaix I got as my first bike and absolutely took to riding like a duck to water, saw pics of the R5 and jumped on it. IN retrospect, especially after learning more about the Di2 and riding with a couple friends who have it, do regret not getting the S5 which comes with Di2. But save my pennies and will get next year.

It's like motorcycles, I don't think a person can have too many bikes! :)

Not in my opinion. I use 85psi front 90psi rear on my 25's on standard 15c rims (Kinlin XR-270). I've run those pressures at weights ranging from 170-195lbs. In 15k miles of cycling I've never pinch flatted a tire although I do pump them up before every ride. If you run one of the newer 23mm wide rims you can drop the pressures another ~10psi. I'm not opposed to running the CG-R post if I need to but it's kind of expensive. I'll probably try a 28mm tire in the back at 80psi first. I actually got a flat on my first ride on the SL4 Expert frame and only got about 70-80psi in the rear tire with my CO2 inflator. I did notice the ride wasn't as jarring so that's why I think wider rims/tires at a reasonable pressure could be the answer to a smoothing out the ride of the SL4.

If I find the ride too jarring even with 25's, I'll get new wheels. I'm blanking on the specifics but there's a rim psimet calls "butter" that might be ideal. Then slide the Fulcrums over to my winter bike... it really needs new wheels anyway.

But the pavement here is ok generally speaking. With the Cobl Gobl I'm more concerned (hypothetically, lol) with road buzz through the bars.


My current bike is pretty noodly; I think any decent modern carbon bike would feel stiff to me.

I just got a S-Works Roubaix with 11r carbon and the S-Works CG-R Carbon Seatpost with Zertz. It's the most comfortable ride I've ever had Much better than my Madone 5.9. I have Ksyrium SL wheels with 25mm tires and Ultegra electronic shifting. I've only had it since Tuesday night and only have 100miles on it. But so far it is really sweet

I had to double check to see if I was still on the 41, what a bunch of softies.

I have a 2013 Roubaix Expert SL4 and I think Spec nailed it with this bike, it's perfect, for me at least. By far the best bike I ever owned. I've had dozens of bikes over the years of almost every material type, this is my favorite bike. I rode friends Tarmacs but since I do alot of centuries I opted for the softer Roubaix. I also rode SL2 and SL4 Roubaixs but I think the SL4 is by far the best. I'm glad I waited for it and I'm glad they stiffened it up. It's the perfect balance of power transmission and compliance/comfort especially on chip sealed roads. I ride on very bad roads almost all chip seal with many bumps and potholes, this does not beat me up like so many other past bikes did. I ride the stock Toupe saddle ,but I did change out the wheels to Dura-Ace C24s so I'm probably getting some more compliance from these excellent wheels.

By the way many of you would consider me an old fat guy.

Any pics of your new Sworks?

Yes, if I can remember how to post ithttp://bikeforums.net/attachment.php...hmentid=351197

I'm 71 and weigh in at 250. That means I am an old fat guy and that Roubaix is the sweetest ride ever. I had minor surgery a couple of weeks ago and I've been avoiding the younger, skinnier group that pushes me beyond my limits but I can't wait to push this bike as hard as I can go

Hey now! We are hard, hard Men on this thread.

We just have thenthitive little tushies.

Let's see if this works:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1AjE-RIurbM It should link to a video of my bike being built

Fixed.

Thanks for the help. My friends son owns the bike shop and they video'd the build on several S-Works they just got in and mine was first

I had my heart set on either a CAAD10 Black ink, or an EVO, but the more I ride my Allez the more I love them.
Starting to sway towards a Tarmac, but with all the recent talk about Roubaixs, I think I have another to put on the list.
I'd love an S-Work but it most likely won't fit my budget.
Maybe I should just save a little longer. :lol:

Great to hear. Good on you red. I hope you ride the wheels off that beautiful Sworks Roubaix and loose a bunch of weight.
Congrats on the great bike...doesn't get much better.

Got out this weekend and rode 40 miles at 17 plus mph and the bike was still sweet. Rode 50 more on Saturday and 40 more on Sunday so I'm over 300 miles on the bike and still a happy camper.

I'm digging up an old thread here, but I'm hoping CWG will tell me how he went about putting an Ultegra crank on this frame. I'd like to do the same thing. It's my understanding that you have to use an adapter or the praxis works conversion BB. An Ultegra BB doesn't fit on this frame, correct?