# 2009 Tarmac Sl Frameset



## ttvrdik (Oct 12, 2005)

Did any members go to the Copper Mt Specialized Product Launch?

Any hint when the Tarmac Pro Sl Frameset will be released.


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## Blade-Runner (Jun 4, 2008)

WOW!     That white is hot!!!!!


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## vboy19 (Mar 24, 2008)

Do you have anymore pictures from the event Post them up!!!!  thanks. beautiful frame.


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## Ivanhoe (Mar 21, 2008)

+1 - 2 guys from my LBS went but they won't be back til tomorrow. I was trying to get some info on the new tarmacs- LBS mgr said to expect up to 20% increase over '08 $$'s


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## the Inbred (Feb 28, 2004)

The Roubaix SL2 is going to be the hot selling bike this year.


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## david462 (Jan 3, 2008)

my manager is coming back tomorrow from it. i heard a 15% increase in pricing.

we just got the 09' catalog today. 09 lineup is looking good. the new catalog (in a binder) is a lot nicer as well.

looking forward to the stumpy 29er marathon that ill be picking up when its available.


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## marknelson (Oct 18, 2007)

I love white and black bikes, the 09 Tramac is HOT, but it would be even HOTTER if it didn't have "Specialized" on it 102 times.

So what colors will the 09 Roubaix be offered in?


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## Ivanhoe (Mar 21, 2008)

marknelson said:


> I love white and black bikes, the 09 Tramac is HOT, but it would be even HOTTER if it didn't have "Specialized" on it 102 times.


True - It goes against my "less is more" attitude.


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## ttvrdik (Oct 12, 2005)

*Specialized 2009 Product Pics*

There are others peoples picture that I found thru the Google and flickr:

The first is from The Specialized Launch in Copper Mountain:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/piladiaz/sets/72157606246045107/

The next three are from the launch in Europe:
http://www.stenger-bike.de/bin/nav/gallery.html?sid=SILb0H8AAAEAAEjHGzU,menu=5,do=14:0
http://picasaweb.google.com/team.freesmile.de/Specialized2009
http://www.neway-nice.com/Specialized-2009.html

These should answer a few question


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## Ivanhoe (Mar 21, 2008)

great pics - thx for sharing


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## PaulRivers (Sep 11, 2006)

ttvrdik said:


> There are others peoples picture that I found thru the Google and flickr:
> 
> The first is from The Specialized Launch in Copper Mountain:
> http://www.flickr.com/photos/piladiaz/sets/72157606246045107/
> ...


Thanks - that's awesome.

With the exception of the black SL2, though, I don't see a lot of good looking Tarmacs. :-(


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## david462 (Jan 3, 2008)

i got to see the pics my manager took today. that lucky bastard got so much free stuff too. im very glad to see more red/white frames for 09. they stopped that for 08 after hearing complaints of "too much red/white" for 07. personally red/white is a great color choice. helps sell the $800 bikes a lot as well.


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## MaddSkillz (Mar 13, 2007)

Nice looking! Thanks for posting! I wonder what the Expert is going to look like or if these are USA color schemes as well?


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## calebherndon (Apr 5, 2007)

*I like my bikes like I like my women...white and HOT!!!*

You fellow bike addicts know how I feel tonight...just ordered that sick frameset at the top of the page today. I was willing to buy the tarmac sl gerolsteiner of 08 but when I started looking in February the framesets were sold out...thank God! My dealer charged me $1900 for the 09 pro sl frameset-10 r carbon. To me that is the 08 pro frameset ($1700) -8r carbon-plus ~15% or so. I of course didn't bring this to his attention. I can't believe the price for how closely this bike resembles the sl2 in structure and composition. Thanks to everyone on this site for posting pictures and info, making this an easy choice for my first real road bike.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

calebherndon said:


> You fellow bike addicts know how I feel tonight...just ordered that sick frameset at the top of the page today. I was willing to buy the tarmac sl gerolsteiner of 08 but when I started looking in February the framesets were sold out...thank God! My dealer charged me $1900 for the 09 pro sl frameset-10 r carbon. To me that is the 08 pro frameset ($1700) -8r carbon-plus ~15% or so. I of course didn't bring this to his attention. I can't believe the price for how closely this bike resembles the sl2 in structure and composition. Thanks to everyone on this site for posting pictures and info, making this an easy choice for my first real road bike.


Congrats! :thumbsup: 
Seems like a great price, but did your dealer happen to mention MSRP on it?


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## calebherndon (Apr 5, 2007)

No, we never talked about msrp, topic went right to the epic mtn bike-only s works framesets sold this far...oh well.


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## jtferraro (Jun 28, 2002)

*Is this bike the same as my '07 S-Works Tarmac SL?*

Is this bike the same as my '07 S-Works Tarmac SL?

10r
BB30
regular 1 1/8 headtube (not the newer, oversized & tapered one)

Thanks,


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## calebherndon (Apr 5, 2007)

This one is made in the SL2 mold, I think the carbon layup is the same. I don't know the specifics on the molding processes but would like to know if anyone has some info. How does that 10r carbon ride?


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## PaulRivers (Sep 11, 2006)

calebherndon said:


> This one is made in the SL2 mold, I think the carbon layup is the same. I don't know the specifics on the molding processes but would like to know if anyone has some info. How does that 10r carbon ride?


I just bought the 2007 Specialized Tarmac SL:
http://www.specialized.com/bc/SBCBkModel.jsp?arc=2007&spid=22291

I've only ridden on it 3 times so far, but last night I did 25 miles. I've spent at least an hour each test riding the lower end 6r (Elite) and 8r (Expert) tarmacs.

I think the 10r carbon rides amazingly. I deliberately test rode them without gloves (that's how I ride anyways), fit the same (it's never exact, but it's close) and personally pumped up to the tires to 100psi to ensure the tire pressure wasn't a factor. The Elite and Expert had the same tires, but different wheels. So only the frame and the wheels were different between different test rides. I also deliberately rode them up on sidewalks, on a gravel trail for a couple hundred yards, and over recessed railroad tracks.

I thought the 6r carbon on the Tarmac had noticeable road buzz. My wrists are probably kind of sensitive, and like I said no gloves, but I never ended a ride without my wrists hurting a little. I spend all day on the computer, to, which means that sometimes my wrists hurt on their own by the end of the day. I'm trying to figure out how to say this without it sounding worse than it was - whenever I'd hit anything on the road, like the cracks on a sidewalk, I could feel a slight shooting pain in my arm on the 6r. It was just enough to comment on, but it certainly wasn't "incredibly painful" or anything. However, I imagined it would really start to add up by the end of riding 40 to 100 miles.

(On a side note, I also rode the 6r carbon Roubaix. It didn't have any of that jarring feeling at all, but instead it felt kind of dead and not stiff enough to get that fun pedaling feeling. I thought the 8r carbon Roubaix was very comfortable, but got that funner faster frame feeling back. None of the tarmac had a "dead" feeling to the frame.)

The 8r carbon was a really noticeable improvement. That road buzz was *nearly* entirely gone, but there was still some lingering buzz by the end of a 45 minute ride. Might be something that simply wearing gloves would take care of. That slight shooting pain was gone on sidewalks and normal street riding, but would show up again when I hit something bigger, like recessed railroad tracks or a soccer ball sized pothole. I would have bought this one at the time, but I really disliked the red, white, and blue color scheme and I was waiting to see the 2009 colors.

I couldn't test ride it anyways, but I certainly wasn't going to pay $5,500 for the Tarmac SL. Or $7700 for the SL2. Good lord - the $3,000 Tarmac Expert (8r) already cost more than I paid for my car! But then I found one on sale through the same bike shop - closeout as last years model. They wanted $4k for it...by the time I haggled and came back a couple of times, the cost was down to $3,500. Plus it was pretty, I didn't like the look of next years Tarmac colors.  And of course, it was 10r carbon...

So I took it for a test ride, and you know what? The 10r carbon has completely eliminated the road buzz. I mean it's just unbelievably gone. And there's none of that slight shooting pain whatsoever, no matter what I hit with my wheel. Now, it's not a miracle. "buzz" and "slight, but noticeable shooting pain" are gone, but I can definitely feel it if I hit a curb or something. Imagine that you have one of those commuter bikes - they look like a mountain bike, but with no shocks. And you have big fat tires on it, but they're inflated to 100psi. And you smack into a curb - that's what it's like on the 10r carbon. Only you've got skinny tires, and a much, much, much lighter frame.  I also noticed that I can feel the stiffness of the frame in the rest of my body a little after riding. My legs end up feeling a little stiff after riding. It's definitely not painful or anything, I just didn't notice it as much with the 8r and 6r carbon. That also could be the wheels - I know the wheels on the 10r carbon bike are super duper stiff.

So those are my thoughts. And there are definitely other people on this forum who have had different experiences - the guy with that cool shepherd dog picture (PJ352) has a Tarmac Comp (6r) frame and says he doesn't have any problem with the ride quality. But this is my experience - hope it's helpful!


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## jtferraro (Jun 28, 2002)

calebherndon said:


> This one is made in the SL2 mold. How does that 10r carbon ride?


Ah, I didn't realize that. You're implying this also has the oversize, tapered headtube too, like the SL2's? If that's the case, what would the difference be between the Tarmac Pro SL2 (10r) and the Tamac Pro SL (10r) in the pic above?

My '07 S-Works Tarmac SL 10r frame rides really nice. Compared to my old TREK 5500 it feels stiffer (doesn't dampen as well as TREK, but many thought the TREK had a 'wood' feeling to it). Oh, and it's definitely lighter. Compared to a CAAD9 Canondale I'd say it's more comfy and just as stiff if not stiffer. However, since the CAAD9 seems to fit me better (shorter TT) I have more confidence in it's handling.

Thanks,


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## calebherndon (Apr 5, 2007)

I know the SL2 uses the 11 layup carbon which is their high-end lightweight uber stiff carbon verses the tarmac pro sl being 10 which is a little heavier layup-a couple of triscuits in weight diff doesn't bother me at all (current/1st road setup is 19 lbs) and also a tad less stiff. What I don't factually know, but have heard-prob on another post- is that the sl2 uses the az1 construction process and the tarmac pro sl uses the triple monocoque manufacturing process. I haven't had time to research their differences but due to the price point, 2nd best carbon layup, proven and improved upon sl2 mold, slick white/black scheme, frameset availability, I was all in on this one. Thanks for that good review of ride characteristics. I am glad I bought the new dura ace road tubeless wheels. They are working perfectly now with reg tubes and tires but will switch over to road tubeless tires when these wear out. The tubeless should help a little with that rigid bite. Stiff bike and stiff wheels didn't seem appealing for the arse.:skep:


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

jtferraro said:


> Ah, I didn't realize that. You're implying this also has the oversize, tapered headtube too, like the SL2's? If that's the case, what would the difference be between the Tarmac Pro SL2 (10r) and the Tamac Pro SL (10r) in the pic above?
> 
> My '07 S-Works Tarmac SL 10r frame rides really nice. Compared to my old TREK 5500 it feels stiffer (doesn't dampen as well as TREK, but many thought the TREK had a 'wood' feeling to it). Oh, and it's definitely lighter. Compared to a CAAD9 Canondale I'd say it's more comfy and just as stiff if not stiffer. However, since the CAAD9 seems to fit me better (shorter TT) I have more confidence in it's handling.
> 
> Thanks,


If you're talking '08's, here's how it goes:
Tarmac Expert/ Pro both use 8r carbon, AZ-1 construction.
Tarmac Pro SL2 uses 10r, FACT IS construction (same as the S-Works SL2, but that uses 11r carbon).

For '09 here are some facts and some conjecture:
Tarmac Expert will use 8r, but whether it will still have AZ-1 is questionable, from conflicting documentation I've seen.
Tarmac Pro and Pro SL2 are no longer listed, so they may be replaced by the Pro SL. It will use 10r carbon, but whether it'll employ AZ-1 or FACT IS is unclear. IMO because of its SL designation, it'll use AZ-1 and have the 1.5" lower bearing of the '08 Pro SL2.

If someone has the '09 catalog, they may be able to verify some of this info. My LBS only had the pre-launch version.


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## PJ352 (Dec 5, 2007)

So that's why you haven't been on these forums much lately, you've been out riding your new rig!! :thumbsup: 
Congrats on the purchase - sure is a pretty looking bike, but, no BLUE??!!  
And thanks for the kind words about my rescue 'mutt'. She's actually an Aussie, transplanted to Upstate NY from Georgia - and she _loves_ winter! (that makes one of us)


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## kronis (Aug 17, 2008)

nice!!


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