You left out the most vital piece of info.... How much was it?!

ha! I paid $3,000 for everything shown. Frameset + wheels

That sounds like a fantastic price. I would get used Di2 9070 or R9150 depending on your budget. Even the Ultegra 6870 would be a good fit. For the crank, I'd get whatever matches the groupset, although a power meter would be your best bet here.

That's a great deal!

I think you should just go with the new Ultegra Di2 R8070 groupset. There isn't much better options out there, and cobbling stuff together may end up costing you about the same or more.

It looks like there are a lot of spacers under the bar, with the "hover" bar, it will look much better without all these spacers. I say someone was selling one the other day here but not sure if it's still available. I think if you could easily "trade" with someone.

If you go with Shimano with the Hollowtech II 24mm crankset, I would just get a new conversion BB (PF to Shimano 24mm) from Wheels Manufacturing instead of using adapters. The conversion BBs are much better and quieter solution.

Good luck with the build.

That’s a steal! Honestly you don’t want to cheap out. If I were you I’d check out that cycling swap meet on Facebook. Can probably trade the bars there, and find an etap groupset for a good price. I’ve seen a handful go for under $1,200. A bike that nice shouldn’t be skimped on.

May i ask why you are looking for a riser bar? Surely you don't need more stack than where the bar is sitting in the photo?

As for the drivetrain, depending on the weather where you live (if you won't be able to ride until spring anyway) i'd wait and see what Sram introduces in the new year, and you might find some current Sram etap for a lot cheaper in January/February.

Either way, love the colour!! Frameset & wheels look awesome!!

The reason I want the riser bar is because I want to have as few spacers as possible. The current setup is just how it came, but I think it looks goofy for a venge vias to have lots of spacers, especially with the negative angle of the stem. Ideally I'd have no spacers and then 25mm riser bar. The other option is to just use my current bar and have 25mm of spacers.

I live in San Francisco so I ride all year. Although right now the air quality is poor because of forest fires nearby so I'm not able to ride. That should clear up in the next week or so hopefully.

Would it just be a shame (or look goofy) to put Ultegra Mechanical groupset on this bike? I just figured out that mechanical can be put on this bike, not just electronic groupsets.

Fair point, and if you like the looks on the riser bar, that's the way to go (i personally am not a fan (aesthetically), so i'd keep the 25mm spacers and flat bar)

The mechanical cable routing isn't very clean on that bike (big cable loops into the downtube). You could source some cheap 105 or Rival parts and save up for Di2 or Etap in the future?

Yeah good point. I know the 25mm rise handlebars are polarizing for sure. People either love them or hate them. I just need to find someone who has a Vias and hates the 25mm rise so I can buy them :-)

I don't want to use any adapters on this BB so I'll probably get SRAM Red 22 crankset, but it's hard to justify spending so much on Etap, so I'm leaning towards Udi2 for the rest of the groupset. Is that weird to mix SRAM cranks with Di2?

 
Wow, you got a great deal! Some guys have all the luck.


I vote Ultegra Di2, it works fine, only weighs a little more etc.. It won't hold you back.

You can upgrade to Dura Ace in a couple years if you are on a budget now, or put Dura Ace on your holiday gift list and see what happens..

Rob

TBH, I am not sure DA Di2 is much of a upgrade overUltegra other than weight, certainly not durability. In terms of shifting performance, they are identical. In any event, all the newer gen Di2 gears can be mixed so OP can always upgrade or downgrade (in my case, I needed a clutch RD so I swapped out a DA Di2 for the new Ultegra RX) later.

And, I would NEVER put on a SRAM crankset on a bike with Shimano drivetrain unless it's a total beater. It's my OCD and I know it will gnaw on me to no end.

Personally, I would want hydraulic brakes on this like a Shimano Ultegra DI2 disk set https://www.merlincycles.com/...groupset-113158.html

However, you could do Ultegra last gen Di2 and just add a nice set of mechanical brakes like some Spyre SLC brakes and do well for way less money

https://www.merlincycles.com/...i-levers-107291.html

Merlin is awesome, but a big thing to check...
Brits usually have their brakes swapped around, so the long cable may come on left brifter. Depending on how they attach, you may be able to swap them or not and you'd have to buy new cables - not cheap either. So, do the research!

UDI2 is the obvious answer, crank as well.

My main issue is that I've had bad luck with Shimano + OSBB.

My other Venge used adapters which were super creaky. I ended up buying a Kogel ($179!) ceramic bottom bracket to get rid of the noise but there's still a popping sound when I put out more than 450 watts. It's really frustrating to say the least. This time I'd like something that directly fits my current OSBB which came with the bike.

The OSBB/Shimano interface is not the problem, it's the PF BB with the BB shell that's producing the creaky noise. The threaded BB used by most conversion BBs are better than the press fit type, regardless what crankset you use.

This! I've had very good experiences with the threaded bottom brackets made by Wheels Manufacturing.

Same, it's the only thing that killed the creaking on my CAAD12.

Thanks guys. So on the Specialized OSBB there are cups epoxied into the frame from the factory, I believe. Do these need to be remove? That seems like a difficult process from what I've read. If this isn't necessary to remove the epoxied cups, what good is a threaded BB doing if it just sits within those creaky cups?
Clearly I'm misunderstanding something, so an explanation would be highly appreciated - thanks!