I know this might sound like a bit of a hair-brained scheme on the surface of it, but hear me out.
I'm in the market for a new TT-bike and would very much like to go for disc-brakes purely for logistical reasons; I have a disc-brake Specialized Tarmac with sets of Roval CL40 and and CL64 disc-brake wheels, which I'm keen on using on the TT-bike rather than accumulating more (potentially rapidly-depreciating) of the rim-brake variety. I appreciate that I'll be sacrificing a bit of speed in terms of both weight and aero with this choice, but I'm not aiming for Kona, just the challenge against myself and my teammates in club TTs and tris; due to UK TTing regulations it has to be a UCI-legal setup.
As for my purchasing options, unfortunately the new Shiv TT is way out of my budget, so keeping with the Specialized angle I was looking at picking up a disc-brake Venge, either second-hand, ex-demo or in the end-of-season sales, in one frame-size smaller than I'd ride it in a road setup and converting it to a TT setup. I ride a "Small" (52) Tarmac, which fits perfectly and have tried out a "Small" Shiv TT (Stack-Reach of 495-390 mm), which seems to fit great; the "Extra Small" (49) Venge measurements Stack-Reach measurements are 505-386 mm so a little bit out but not a million miles and many of the other frame geometry measurements seem similar too.
Is it a stupid idea to pursue this? Has anyone tried converting a Venge to a dedicated TT bike? I'd be very happy to do the required mechanicing myself, so it'd just be a case of sourcing the parts.
My alternative option is to buy a second-hand rim-brake Shiv TT and start another wheel collection, which would arguably be simpler and possibly cheaper, but perhaps not the best long-term.
Any advice much appreciated!
I'm in the market for a new TT-bike and would very much like to go for disc-brakes purely for logistical reasons; I have a disc-brake Specialized Tarmac with sets of Roval CL40 and and CL64 disc-brake wheels, which I'm keen on using on the TT-bike rather than accumulating more (potentially rapidly-depreciating) of the rim-brake variety. I appreciate that I'll be sacrificing a bit of speed in terms of both weight and aero with this choice, but I'm not aiming for Kona, just the challenge against myself and my teammates in club TTs and tris; due to UK TTing regulations it has to be a UCI-legal setup.
As for my purchasing options, unfortunately the new Shiv TT is way out of my budget, so keeping with the Specialized angle I was looking at picking up a disc-brake Venge, either second-hand, ex-demo or in the end-of-season sales, in one frame-size smaller than I'd ride it in a road setup and converting it to a TT setup. I ride a "Small" (52) Tarmac, which fits perfectly and have tried out a "Small" Shiv TT (Stack-Reach of 495-390 mm), which seems to fit great; the "Extra Small" (49) Venge measurements Stack-Reach measurements are 505-386 mm so a little bit out but not a million miles and many of the other frame geometry measurements seem similar too.
Is it a stupid idea to pursue this? Has anyone tried converting a Venge to a dedicated TT bike? I'd be very happy to do the required mechanicing myself, so it'd just be a case of sourcing the parts.
My alternative option is to buy a second-hand rim-brake Shiv TT and start another wheel collection, which would arguably be simpler and possibly cheaper, but perhaps not the best long-term.
Any advice much appreciated!