I'm considering getting the venge pro, however I see that the s-works version uses the CLX 64 wheel while the pro version uses the CL 64 version.


What is the difference?

ceramic versus steel bearings I believe (at least that's been the difference in past versions)

They also had different hubs and spokes in the past. Hopefully it's only bearings, but I'm guessing its cheaper spokes too.

always interesting the bikes those who have the choice choose (even when under some level of pressure from sponsors). if the poster boy for the new venge is not riding it then that is a very bad look!
mollema has i think been riding the new madone at times - very rare for a GC contender to ride an aero frame but then the new madone would be the only aero frame that can be built up within the UCI weight limit.

but then, see this post from specialized themselves recommending tarmac for every stage in the 2nd week of the tour and prevail as the helmet most days too. yes, its a hilly week but there are several stages in there where surely a venge (old or new) would be the bike of choice if you believe even half of the marketing. haven't seen an equivalent overview for the first week.

Looks to me like on stage 15, Sagan switched from his old Venge to the new one toward the end. Perhaps the geometry is different and he doesn't like riding the new one for long periods of time yet. Clearly he wanted the new one for the sprint.

CLX 64 is tubeless, whereas CL 64 is not. That is another difference, of ambiguous advantage. Specialized has a weird obsession with clinchers, as Tony Martin raced on cotton s-works clinchers last year until frequent flats enraged him and he went back to tubulars

He started with the Tarmac, and most likely switched to the new Venge for sponsorship obligations in the event that he got a stage victory and all the associated press.

I can understand him riding a Tarmac for the hilly sections, but to me it looked like he was on his old Venge. The very easy to spot visual difference between the Tarmac and the Venge is the slight cutout for the rear wheel in the seat tube . Unless my eyes deceive me, it looked to me like he was on his old Venge as the frame had the cutout for the rear wheel. On Stage 16, you can clearly see him riding his old Venge. Cutout for the rear wheel in the seat tube looks pretty clear to me.

Man are you clinical. Specialized seems to let riders pick whatever they like. They just provide them with the information on the best choice. Notice that Tony Martin still uses his TT3 helmet about half the time and his Shimano bars on his Shiv. Contador almost exclusively rides a Tarmac (he rode a Venge in the really hilly TT at one of the grand tours ). Sagan was on a Tarmac and old Venge today. Cavendish was on a Tarmac on one of the mountain stages last week.

Years ago pretty much everyone on Gerosteiner rode their Walser TT bike when the Transition was available. My guess is the ultra narrow frame on the Transition was too soft for the PorTour guys. I know Specialized made custom seat post and added something like 2-300 grams of carbon to the frames the pros used.

I don't know exactly why Sagan would ride the old Venge today. It could be something like a lack of familiarity and he knew he would be really pushing the limits on the descents. It could also be that the brakes have a different feel from the Shimano's he is used to.

How is saying their team might consider publicity cynical? I realized he actually switched to the old venge so my point is moot anyways, but i think teams take some of these issues into account. I am actually a general fan of specialized, i own a Transition, Crux, and about to purchase a Venge so no dislike at all. My take home point is that if Sagan gets a W i am sure specialized would prefer to get a nice picture of him winning on the new Venge for marketing, but seems he is almost 100% on the old venge or tarmac.

Today was definitely a day to not risk any brake failures/sticking/or lack of modulation. He overcooked a couple turns as it was - an ill timed lockup would have meant disaster. When you are ripping the bleeding edge better to be on something you are 100% familiar with rather than something potentially faster that you haven't learned to control down to the gnat's ass (probably due to lack of available time).

Any idea what the difference between the S-works and pro level frames are as they both use "11r" carbon.

About $4,000 :)


Looks like it's exactly the same frame, different color and only available as a Dura Ace 9000 build.

"This is a test that we did comparing Tarmac, Venge ViAS, and a selection of the fastest current aero frames. Same build (DA9000) and wheels (CLX60s rather than CLX64s for clearance on some competitor frames) except where integrated components are required. Sorry about the quality of the chart image. Its original purpose was to illustrate the relative differences among classes. Y-axis is CdA and each division is 0.002 m^2:

"

Chris, could you please explain the differences between the graph above and this one taken from the Slowtwitch article here? http://www.slowtwitch.com/...Everything_5159.html

I would love to see Chris' Shiv. Does it at least have mechanical shifters so there are some exposed cables and shifters to make it less aero without a rider.? Maybe J-bend bars to add some exposed round tubing? If not, the new Venge must be scary fast.

I'm guessing the one with lower drag at high yaw was Venge with the CLX 64 wheelset where the graph comparing other brands used the CLX 60 wheelset on all bikes.

Yes, that's correct. In the comparison with the Shiv TT, the ViAS was equipped with the new CLX64 wheels, whereas in the graph comparing just road bikes everything was equipped with CLX60. If I remember correctly, the Shiv TT was setup with s-bends and mech Shimano shifters.

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Chris Yu
Applied Technology
Specialized Bicycle Components
@chrisyuinc

A 'new Venge' showed up at the LBS today. Didn't look particularly great in person to my eye, but maybe once it is fit to you it would. They had it on display but it was not cabled up so I could not verify how the brakes function.

Supposedly one is at my shop with my name on it. Unfortunately I am out of town for a stage race.

As luck would have it, today I was in a 147km breakaway during today's road race (4-man break). Unfortunately, the stage was 155km! I admit I was thinking about the 15w (~1.5s/km?) savings vs my venge.... :)

Anyone else notice that neither Peter Sagan nor Mark Cavendish rode their vias on the Champs Elysee?

It rained so maybe the prototype brakes weren't up to snuff for the last stage.

Posted in other threads, nobody in the pro peleton trusts the new brakes in the wet.

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2014 P3 DI2 - RT6, CXR80, Power2Max S, 820, Fenix 3 HR. (gone)

Then should we trust the brakes? .....and those who buy this bike may not have an alternative in the wet.

Maybe that is why they increased the price. Perhaps it comes with a similarly decked out Tarmac for you to ride when you need working brakes.

Hi Chris, do you happen to know if there will be a fully matt black frameset available as per previous models. My LBS now has the full bike in and the framesets, but I much prefer the stealth look. Thanks

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On the internet, you can be anything you want. It is a pity so many people choose to be stupid.