00:00Like any kid working in a bike shop, being surrounded by all the latest bling meant that
00:04the desire to upgrade my own bike occupied more of my mind than arguably it should have done.
00:10Sadly, the amount of money you can earn when you're working in a bike shop
00:13doesn't really lend itself to being able to buy all the shiny things that surround you
00:18every single day. However, that was never going to discourage me. After plenty of waiting and
00:25hunting around for the right bike, a specialised S-Works Alley came up for sale in my size on Facebook
00:31Marketplace. It was being sold by a local lad, a local racer actually, and he was wanting to move
00:36it on to make space for next season's rig. To me, this was absolutely ideal. Buying a second-hand
00:43aluminium bike did not worry me at all, and the ability to buy into the S-Works moniker for a
00:48discount price, well, it was a done deal. After a meet-up at the local Sunday Circuit race and an
00:55envelope of 50s handed over later, my new bike was grabbed out the back of their team van.
01:01Of course, the bike went straight to the shop where I was working to allow the modifications
01:05to begin. Little did I know at the time that this bike would go on to join me for countless
01:10adventures and become the one bike that I have vowed to never, ever sell.
01:15The frameset is what made me fall in love. The satin finish on the paint was the perfect balance
01:30between gloss and matte, and the satin chrome decals set it off incredibly well. And the virtually
01:37invisible welds trick the eye into thinking that it could be carbon fibre. Specialised fitted an S-Works
01:44level fork which utilised their top level carbon at the time. And the aluminium, well, that was
01:49hydroformed, meaning that they could replicate the shape of the tarmac again at the time. But it also
01:55meant the weight was kept down to a minimum. The overall weight of the frame by itself hovers around
02:01that thousand gram mark, which actually is pretty good. The bike predominantly plays host to an
02:08Ultegra 6800 groupset, as this is what the bike came with when I bought it. However, in my eyes,
02:14the Dura-Ace 9000 groupset is probably the prettiest groupset ever made. So I decided to take the plunge
02:21and buy the chainset and the rear mech. Since these components are arguably the most visible parts of a
02:28groupset, I think they do a really good job of increasing the bike's curb appeal. And quite frankly,
02:32the chrome details on the components paired with the frame itself, it's just a match made in heaven.
02:39When I did change the chainset, it did also provide the opportunity to revise the gear ratios. The bike
02:45came with a 5339. However, I was finding that my little chicken legs were struggling, so I opted
02:51for a 5238. Now, it may not seem like a huge change, and granted, it's not. But out on the road,
02:58I found that turning the cranks just felt so much better. And when I paired that with an 1128 cassette,
03:05the ratios, for me, they just fell into place. The Roval CLX40s that the bike came with are sadly
03:12no longer with me. After six months of use, I decided to sell them before the value either
03:17dropped out of them because, you know, road disc brake bikes were finally coming onto the market.
03:22But I was also wary of the fact that if I kept using them, I was going to wear through that brake track,
03:27and again, they would end up essentially valueless. As a young lad in a bike shop,
03:32I wasn't really in the position to lose that kind of money over an extra couple of watts. So,
03:38I hunted down on the web a set of just cheap Chinese carbon wheels for about 300 quid.
03:44And say what you will about them, but actually, these Chinese knockoffs have actually been pretty
03:50decent. They're easy to service with their sealed cartridge bearings, they've never needed truing,
03:55and actually, when you pair them with a set of Swiss Dot Black Prince carbon pads,
04:00when you pull on the levers, you will definitely stop.
04:03I've always run the same tyres on this bike, a set of 28C S-Works Turbo tyres. For me,
04:09they provide a great balance between comfort, grip, and just downright speed.
04:14The qualities of the S-Works Turbos are also helped by the fact that I've been running the Turbo
04:18tubes, which are a lightweight, butyl inner tube, but they're also pre-tout,
04:23meaning that that helps them lower their rolling resistance ever so slightly.
04:28The other thing that I really like about those tubes, and it is a bit of a bike nerdy weight
04:31weenie thing, but they're also about 40g lighter compared to a standard butyl inner tube,
04:36so when you do that over both wheels, you're saving nearly 80g, which I'll take.
04:41The finishing kit was actually the first things that I did change on the bike, and that's because
04:45I wanted to get the fit dialed in. I nabbed some 38cm Pro Vibe alloy bars,
04:51and I paired it with a 100mm S-Works Stem. Now, while I was tempted by an integrated carbon
04:58setup, my typically stingy self was never really going to stretch that far, and quite frankly,
05:04I love how easy this bike is to recable. The seatpost is actually one of the few things
05:09that has stayed original throughout my entire tenure with the bike, but the saddle, well,
05:14that has changed. I started off with a specialised S-Works tube saddle, which I had for nearly a decade,
05:20but after those near 10 years, well, it was looking a little worse for wear, so I have
05:26recently actually upgraded and embraced some modern technology in the shape of the Fizik
05:31Vento Argo 00 saddle. Now, while this saddle is ever so slightly lighter, the real game is the
05:38incredibly grippy surface and the increased comfort, no thanks to the super wider wings that
05:44it's got. Sadly, the bike isn't without its faults, or should I say quirks? One thing that I wish
05:51specialised had done with this bike was to give it a thread in bottom bracket. Sadly, though, this bike
05:56came out when BB30s were in their heyday. The months and years that I have spent trying to make this bike
06:03be creek-free, well, quite frankly, it's just not worth thinking about. Luckily, though, I have now found a
06:09solution that does work pretty well, but it does include putting some Loctite on the outer race of
06:15the bearings, but you've got to do what you've got to do. Also, some of the bottle cage bolts now spin
06:21within the frame, meaning that they can't be undone. Now, before you all start telling me that I can have
06:26this fixed, quite frankly, I don't care. One bottle is fine for me and the rides that I show this bike, and
06:33really, I don't want to risk losing the oh-so-cool S-Works bolts. Quite frankly, they're worth the
06:39pizzazz. I do also have to be fairly careful with the red paint on this bike. It comes off incredibly
06:47easily due to not having a protective clear coat to encapsulate it, but nearly after eight years of
06:53ownership, I think it's held up pretty well considering. As I mentioned previously, I'm never
06:59going to sell this bike. So, what does the future hold for it? Well, being aluminium, I have no doubt
07:06that this bike will outlast me, so long as we don't get acquainted with the underside of a lorry.
07:12One thing I've always wanted to upgrade, though, are the brake calipers. Switching over to some
07:17matching Dura-Ace 9000 calipers would be brilliant, and it would just add that extra little bit of bling
07:22to the setup. Once worn down, I will then also be replacing the tyres for the latest S-Works turbos
07:29that got released at the back end of last year. And lastly, I'd also like to fit a new S-Works seat
07:35post. The current one has been pretty beaten up over winter rides, and when I've been attaching a
07:41rear light to the saddle, it's been chewing up the lacquer, so it's just looking a little bit tired.
07:45But overall, I don't really see this bike changing too much more. To me, it's pretty close to being
07:52perfect for what I want from this bike. That's my dream road bike and how it came to be, and also
08:00why I am never, ever going to sell it. Let me know down in the comments, though. Tell me about the bikes
08:07that you are never going to sell and why. I'd be really interested to hear about them. If you enjoyed
08:12the video, then please do drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content, and I'll see you
08:16again very soon.
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