Specialized Aethos

[Bathroom_Security]

https://www.leisurelakesbikes.com/357296/products/...

Th... thhh. Thirteen. Thousand.

Had to laugh at the sales bks. Specialized really do churn out some garbage.

[budgie smuggler]

does look nice though...

[louiebaby]

Stack:Reach of 1.5 in my size means it's still pretty long and low.

Love the colour in the above, and suitable for up to 125kgs of rider.

There's a lot of other options out there for that sort of cash though, although perhaps not as light...

[Gareth79]

And it doesn't even come with pedals!!!

[Dnlm]

Love the cages. Not as cool looking as the canyon cfr ... Those 400 grams less cost 5k more too!!

Always a fun project to look at though.

[MrBarry123]

I think the Founders Edition is a stunning thing but £13k is quite a lot of cash.

[Hard-Drive]

Bathroom_Security said:

Had to laugh at the sales bks. Specialized really do churn out some garbage.

In fairness the crap on that LL website has been lifted from the Spesh site and then royally screwed up, including loads of spelling mistakes. The Spesh site reads marginally better but there's still a load of BS.

13k is utterly ridiculous for a road bike. Law of diminishing returns I get, but when so many of the components are in common with bikes costing a third of that, what exactly are you paying for? Loads of cash for a bike you can't even race? And you'd actually have to figure proper car-like depreciation calculations in, rather than the more usual bike-like "should still be able to flog it in a few years if I want to and get some money back". Although, if you have £13k to drop on a bike, you probably don't need to...

Does look bloody lovely, granted, but pur-lease...thirteen thousand pounds for a bike you can't race. It's a bit like a Ferrari FXX I guess...stupid money, not competition legal...I wonder if Spesh actually allow you to take this one home?

[JEA1K]

Hard-Drive said:

In fairness the crap on that LL website has been lifted from the Spesh site and then royally screwed up, including loads of spelling mistakes. The Spesh site reads marginally better but there's still a load of BS.

13k is utterly ridiculous for a road bike. Law of diminishing returns I get, but when so many of the components are in common with bikes costing a third of that, what exactly are you paying for? Loads of cash for a bike you can't even race? And you'd actually have to figure proper car-like depreciation calculations in, rather than the more usual bike-like "should still be able to flog it in a few years if I want to and get some money back". Although, if you have £13k to drop on a bike, you probably don't need to...

Does look bloody lovely, granted, but pur-lease...thirteen thousand pounds for a bike you can't race. It's a bit like a Ferrari FXX I guess...stupid money, not competition legal...I wonder if Spesh actually allow you to take this one home?

Whilst its an expeno for a bike, all the big manufacturers have a premium model which is £12k - £13k, so not out of kilter within the industry. You can race it but in UCI races it needs to weigh no less than the mandatory 6.8kg .... some of the teams add weight to their bikes when the models fall below this, so it will the same for the Spesh.

But of course, you're right about the cost and depreciation. I imagine you'd roll it out of the shop and be lucky to get half of the value back if you tried to sell it. And lets be honest it will be no 'faster' than a bike half or even a 3rd of the price, so the law of diminishing returns couldn't be more accurate! Taking a st to make the rider/bike package lighter would be the cheaper option.

[2fast748]

That's very silly indeed (and doesn't look much different from my 10+ year old Allez!).

But yes of course I'd have one.

[BrundanBianchi]

13 Grand is the cost of the ‘founders edition’ which still uses the ( soon to be superseded ) DA Di2 9100 GS. I’m actually not even remotely tempted by this bike, I don’t see the point of taking the Tarmac SL7 and ‘turning it down’. It’s a bit like buying a 911 turbo, and taking the turbo off.

[BrundanBianchi]

JEA1K said:

And lets be honest it will be no 'faster' than a bike half or even a 3rd of the price, so the law of diminishing returns couldn't be more accurate!

Most of what you said was about right, but not this bit. This is a line trotted out ad nauseum by folk who have never compared the top spec bikes with one costing “a half or even a third of the price” There really is a quite marked difference at that level.
As an, ( admittedly) totally Unscientific example.

Here’s an effort I made on one of my ‘everyday’ road bikes ( a BTwin Ultra 750 AF ) which cost about a grand a few years ago



and here’s a very similar ride, using most of the same route, on my 12 Grand Bianchi XR4. The rides were both done this week, similar conditions, I was feeling the same.



That’s quite a difference.

Edited by BrundanBianchi on Friday 9th October 14:03

[z4RRSchris]

not really, you put 70 more watts through the pedals on your more expensive bike....

[Mastodon2]

BrundanBianchi said:

Most of what you said was about right, but not this bit. This is a line trotted out ad nauseum by folk who have never compared the top spec bikes with one costing “a half or even a third of the price” There really is a quite marked difference at that level.
As an, ( admittedly) totally Unscientific example.

Here’s an effort I made on one of my ‘everyday’ road bikes ( a BTwin Ultra 750 AF ) which cost about a grand a few years ago



and here’s a very similar ride, using most of the same route, on my 12 Grand Bianchi XR4. The rides were both done this week, similar conditions, I was feeling the same.



That’s quite a difference.

Edited by BrundanBianchi on Friday 9th October 14:03

I know you said it was "unscientific", but could you perhaps share how the more expensive bike saw your power output increase substantially?

Does riding a more expensive bike make your legs stronger?

[louiebaby]

This whole expensive vs cheap bike power comparison thing is coming into nearly every thread now.

Can we just stop it now, please?

[Ares]

Normal S-Works version will be just over £10k, but the main part about this is the weight.

5.9kg..... 5.9kg..... For a disc bike. So light, you wouldn't be allowed to race it. For the right person, with the right budget, a couple of grand extra to get something that weighs 5.9kg is VFM.

[Ares]

BrundanBianchi said:

JEA1K said:

And lets be honest it will be no 'faster' than a bike half or even a 3rd of the price, so the law of diminishing returns couldn't be more accurate!

Most of what you said was about right, but not this bit. This is a line trotted out ad nauseum by folk who have never compared the top spec bikes with one costing “a half or even a third of the price” There really is a quite marked difference at that level.
As an, ( admittedly) totally Unscientific example.

Here’s an effort I made on one of my ‘everyday’ road bikes ( a BTwin Ultra 750 AF ) which cost about a grand a few years ago



and here’s a very similar ride, using most of the same route, on my 12 Grand Bianchi XR4. The rides were both done this week, similar conditions, I was feeling the same.



That’s quite a difference.

Edited by BrundanBianchi on Friday 9th October 14:03

I highlighted my version of that test a few days ago on another thread.


I know which of my bikes is faster. I know the average speed I get, I know the power to speed correlation. I know how much better I'm able to corner.....and above that, how the bikes make me feel - the handling, the feel, the confidence, etc.


With minimal scientific grounds, I did a test on two of my bikes (Dogma 65.1 and Dogma F10), they should be the most alike of all my bikes. I tested them on a segment I know well after discussing the same thing with a friend.

I went out on my 65.1, then went out on my F10. Same day, same wind conditions, if anything I would have been marginally more tired on the F10 running second, but only marginally.

65.1:


F10:


F10 was faster by 45secs over 20mins. It was 1.4kph faster on average, yet took less effort.

As I say, hardly laboratory conditions, but the difference is oft repeated.

[JEA1K]

BrundanBianchi said:

Most of what you said was about right, but not this bit. This is a line trotted out ad nauseum by folk who have never compared the top spec bikes with one costing “a half or even a third of the price” There really is a quite marked difference at that level.
As an, ( admittedly) totally Unscientific example.

Here’s an effort I made on one of my ‘everyday’ road bikes ( a BTwin Ultra 750 AF ) which cost about a grand a few years ago



and here’s a very similar ride, using most of the same route, on my 12 Grand Bianchi XR4. The rides were both done this week, similar conditions, I was feeling the same.



That’s quite a difference.

Edited by BrundanBianchi on Friday 9th October 14:03

Nah, sorry, its BS comparing a £12k bike and a £1k bike is not what I said. I know I am slower on my £2k Kinesis 4S than I am on my £12k Madone ...

Now compare the £13k Spesh vs £6.5k bike and one at £4.5k. Lets say for arguments sake, Trek Emonda's of that budget. Firstly, the margins for power output and speed would need be be measured in a controlled environment ... is Ultegra 'slower' than SRAM Red Axs or Dura Ace? Of course it isn't 'slower' ... yes its heavier than DA which could contribute to speed but only if a significant amount of elevation was included in the ride.

Can you honestly say that anyone would be quicker on the more expensive of the 3 bikes over a set distance? My guess is the Spesh would only be quicker if the ride was a constant incline where the weight saving really made a considerable energy saving ...

FYI I don't believe I am any quicker over a set distance on my Madone than I am on my Emonda which was less than half the price. The Emonda weighs 6.2kg ... the Madone 7.9kg ... one is lighter, ones more aero, swings and roundabouts ... and of course, terrain dependent. I can put my Aelous 7's on the Emonda so they're of a similar aero advantage to the 6xxx's on the Madone which narrows the gap further on the aero stakes.

[Ares]

JEA1K said:

Nah, sorry, its BS comparing a £12k bike and a £1k bike is not what I said. I know I am slower on my £2k Kinesis 4S than I am on my £12k Madone ...

Now compare the £13k Spesh vs £6.5k bike and one at £4.5k. Lets say for arguments sake, Trek Emonda's of that budget. Firstly, the margins for power output and speed would need be be measured in a controlled environment ... is Ultegra 'slower' than SRAM Red Axs or Dura Ace? Of course it isn't 'slower' ... yes its heavier than DA which could contribute to speed but only if a significant amount of elevation was included in the ride.

Can you honestly say that anyone would be quicker on the more expensive of the 3 bikes over a set distance? My guess is the Spesh would only be quicker if the ride was a constant incline where the weight saving really made a considerable energy saving ...

FYI I don't believe I am any quicker over a set distance on my Madone than I am on my Emonda which was less than half the price. The Emonda weighs 6.2kg ... the Madone 7.9kg ... one is lighter, ones more aero, swings and roundabouts ... and of course, terrain dependent. I can put my Aelous 7's on the Emonda so they're of a similar aero advantage to the 6xxx's on the Madone which narrows the gap further on the aero stakes.

Look at my example above. That's an F10 compared to a 65.1

[TwistingMyMelon]

Too much confirmation bias and not enough controlling of variables

[Dnlm]

It's diminishing returns if your a pro or am training properly 5x a week. And probably worth it. For everybody else the bling bike encourages putting a bit of extra welly in or just riding more

I tend to think my dream bike is £5/6k and everything above is silly money diminishing returns. 5 years ago would have thought the same above £2k , but funny how easily these things go up.

Prefer the Sagan S Works Tarmac @ 10k though...