S-Works Tarmac SL2 (2009) Super Commuter Project
Discussion
Recently I got chatting with the husband of one of my wife's mum friends as he's also into cycling.
After asking me what bike I had he mentioned he had a Tarmac frame in his loft, as it's too small for him. I told him if he ever wanted rid of it, I'd happily take it off his hands.
Skip forward a few months and I get a message along the lines of "having a clear out, here's some pics of that Tarmac I've got.
Turns out it's a 54cm S-Works Tarmac SL2 from 2009. So this weekend I picked it up for the lovely sum of £0.
Plans are:
Get the chainstay repaired
Repaint
Take all the bits off my current winter/commuter Allez and use this as a winter/commuting/starter race bike (Mavic Ksyrium Elites, Ultegra 6800 and a few S-Works bits)
The frame as a picked it up:
The damage to the chainstay:
As the frame was completely stripped, I stuck it on the scales:
Frame:
Fork:
Then stuck my old wheels on it for a laugh:
Got a few quotes for the repair and sent it off.
As this was due to COVID it took forever to get it repaired.
Whilst it was being repaired I came up with some paint schemes. As I almost bought the Acid Mint SL6 as I loved the paint. However as my orange bike had been written off I wanted an orange bike again. So photoshop came to the rescue:
After asking me what bike I had he mentioned he had a Tarmac frame in his loft, as it's too small for him. I told him if he ever wanted rid of it, I'd happily take it off his hands.
Skip forward a few months and I get a message along the lines of "having a clear out, here's some pics of that Tarmac I've got.
Turns out it's a 54cm S-Works Tarmac SL2 from 2009. So this weekend I picked it up for the lovely sum of £0.
Plans are:
Get the chainstay repaired
Repaint
Take all the bits off my current winter/commuter Allez and use this as a winter/commuting/starter race bike (Mavic Ksyrium Elites, Ultegra 6800 and a few S-Works bits)
The frame as a picked it up:
The damage to the chainstay:
As the frame was completely stripped, I stuck it on the scales:
Frame:
Fork:
Then stuck my old wheels on it for a laugh:
Got a few quotes for the repair and sent it off.
As this was due to COVID it took forever to get it repaired.
Whilst it was being repaired I came up with some paint schemes. As I almost bought the Acid Mint SL6 as I loved the paint. However as my orange bike had been written off I wanted an orange bike again. So photoshop came to the rescue:
Eventually I got it back from being repaired
So I started sanding it down. Starting with 120grit wet then moving through 240, 320, 400 and 800 (all wet).
I stuck it back onto the scale to see what's been removed.
Finished sanding:
Frame - Raw Carbon (34g lost)
Fork - Raw Carbon (48g lost)
Then onto paint:
Frame Primed, Decal colour painted and sticker masks on:
Once that was dry, the first colour was painted, and masking tape added
I didn't get any photos of the other colours except the second to last:
Then the final orange was painted and left to dry overnight.
I then removed all the masking tape and decal masks.
And that's when it started to go wrong.
So I started sanding it down. Starting with 120grit wet then moving through 240, 320, 400 and 800 (all wet).
I stuck it back onto the scale to see what's been removed.
Finished sanding:
Frame - Raw Carbon (34g lost)
Fork - Raw Carbon (48g lost)
Then onto paint:
Frame Primed, Decal colour painted and sticker masks on:
Once that was dry, the first colour was painted, and masking tape added
I didn't get any photos of the other colours except the second to last:
Then the final orange was painted and left to dry overnight.
I then removed all the masking tape and decal masks.
And that's when it started to go wrong.
On previous projects I've then used brake cleaner to remove any residue of the stickers or masking tape,
As i started to do this on this paint, it was coming off. But only certain colours.
I'd bought Montana Gold and Montana Black paints for this and that's the problem.
Montana Gold is an acrylic paint, which dries super hard and is resistant to brake cleaner
Montana Black is a Cellulose paint which A- comes off very easily with Solvent and B - Stays soft for ages.
I decided not to remove the sticky and just lacquer it instead. Which was fine, it had a nice gloss and was a good finish.
Over a week passes and still every time I touch the bike, I'm leaving fingerprints and moving the paint.This is when I look into the Montana Black and find many others with the same issue. SO i bite the bullet........and start again.
So I spent another few nights removing the paint
Because it was so soft, I had to use Stanley knife blades and scrape it, then sand back what was left. I was left with a horrible gooey sticky mess.
I then bought some decent mixed "pantone" acrylic spray paint.
As i started to do this on this paint, it was coming off. But only certain colours.
I'd bought Montana Gold and Montana Black paints for this and that's the problem.
Montana Gold is an acrylic paint, which dries super hard and is resistant to brake cleaner
Montana Black is a Cellulose paint which A- comes off very easily with Solvent and B - Stays soft for ages.
I decided not to remove the sticky and just lacquer it instead. Which was fine, it had a nice gloss and was a good finish.
Over a week passes and still every time I touch the bike, I'm leaving fingerprints and moving the paint.This is when I look into the Montana Black and find many others with the same issue. SO i bite the bullet........and start again.
So I spent another few nights removing the paint
Because it was so soft, I had to use Stanley knife blades and scrape it, then sand back what was left. I was left with a horrible gooey sticky mess.
I then bought some decent mixed "pantone" acrylic spray paint.
So it was sanded and primed again, new decal colour laid down and graphics stuck.
Then the first colour, masked up, second colour, masked up and finally the third colour (masked u
Then onto the final top colour. Considering these paints were chosen from a PC screen I'm happy. The top colour was so bright it was all but glowing once I painted it.
Then that was left to dry and a few hours later I removed the masking tape and stickers:
As I;ve done bikes before with aerosol lacquer I knew that wasn't an option for this again,so I spoke with a few local bodyshops and found a small backstreet one that would clear it with proper 2k paint for £40. So dropped it off one afternoon and collected it a week later
Then the first colour, masked up, second colour, masked up and finally the third colour (masked u
Then onto the final top colour. Considering these paints were chosen from a PC screen I'm happy. The top colour was so bright it was all but glowing once I painted it.
Then that was left to dry and a few hours later I removed the masking tape and stickers:
As I;ve done bikes before with aerosol lacquer I knew that wasn't an option for this again,so I spoke with a few local bodyshops and found a small backstreet one that would clear it with proper 2k paint for £40. So dropped it off one afternoon and collected it a week later
Picked it up from the bodyshop, removed all the remaining tape and stuck it on the scales:
That's 35g lighter after the repaint for the front forks, and 27g heavier for the frame.
So a net loss of 8g overall. Not bad
Then stuck handlebars, stem, seatpost and some spare wheels on.
Just got to actually assemble it and then get some beauty shots:
Spec will be:
- S-Works Tarmac SL2 Frameset - 2009
- Cero AR30 wheelset
- Michelin Pro 4 Endurance tyres 25c
- Full Ultegra 6800 mechanical groupset - 50/34 172.5mm chainset, 11-28 cassette
- KMC X11SL chain
- Specialized Rib Cage Bottle Cages
- K edge Wahoo mount
- Fizik R1 Stem - 90mm
- Fizik R1 Carbon Handlebars - 400mm "Snake"
- 3T LTD Stylus 25mm setback Seatpost
- Specialized Power "Pro" 155mm Saddle
- Look Keo2Max pedals or Favero Assioma Duo Power Meter Pedals.
The for the winter months it will be fitted with SKS Raceblade Long mudguards
Without guards it should be 7.5kg, with guards it will be 7.8/7.9kg (including bottle cages, wahoo mount and pedals)
That's 35g lighter after the repaint for the front forks, and 27g heavier for the frame.
So a net loss of 8g overall. Not bad
Then stuck handlebars, stem, seatpost and some spare wheels on.
Just got to actually assemble it and then get some beauty shots:
Spec will be:
- S-Works Tarmac SL2 Frameset - 2009
- Cero AR30 wheelset
- Michelin Pro 4 Endurance tyres 25c
- Full Ultegra 6800 mechanical groupset - 50/34 172.5mm chainset, 11-28 cassette
- KMC X11SL chain
- Specialized Rib Cage Bottle Cages
- K edge Wahoo mount
- Fizik R1 Stem - 90mm
- Fizik R1 Carbon Handlebars - 400mm "Snake"
- 3T LTD Stylus 25mm setback Seatpost
- Specialized Power "Pro" 155mm Saddle
- Look Keo2Max pedals or Favero Assioma Duo Power Meter Pedals.
The for the winter months it will be fitted with SKS Raceblade Long mudguards
Without guards it should be 7.5kg, with guards it will be 7.8/7.9kg (including bottle cages, wahoo mount and pedals)
Basically the only difference between that and the Sl5 which came however many years later is the seatpin!
Looks good, well done. I have an SL4 S Works that I really rate as a bike, the paint looks dated now, tempting to do something like this, but the paintshops charge a lot for carbon and I don't think I've got the skill to do what you have.
Looks good, well done. I have an SL4 S Works that I really rate as a bike, the paint looks dated now, tempting to do something like this, but the paintshops charge a lot for carbon and I don't think I've got the skill to do what you have.
sagarich said:
Wow! Fantastic project!!! Can’t believe the results so far are all DIY, great job. Watching with interest.
Thanks.I've got the rest built, just need to finish wrapping the bars and wait for wheels to arrive.
okgo said:
Basically the only difference between that and the Sl5 which came however many years later is the seatpin!
Looks good, well done. I have an SL4 S Works that I really rate as a bike, the paint looks dated now, tempting to do something like this, but the paintshops charge a lot for carbon and I don't think I've got the skill to do what you have.
There's a few other changes (this is externally cabled and the BB is a big lump of aluminium so couldn't run DI2) but yeah it's the same geometry as teh SL3, 4 and 5. (I also had a SL4 previously).Looks good, well done. I have an SL4 S Works that I really rate as a bike, the paint looks dated now, tempting to do something like this, but the paintshops charge a lot for carbon and I don't think I've got the skill to do what you have.
bristolbaron said:
That looks great! Solid commitment to a double strip down too, well worth it for the finish.
I was tempted to leave it as it's a winter/commuter, but seeing as there is no commute at the moment it was the right thing to do.
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