SL8 vs SL7 vs Venge | Ultimate Specialized Showdown | Cycling Weekly
Specialized recently released the latest iteration to the Tarmac platform. Now in the 8th generation, Sam Gupta and Specialized ambassador, Alan Murchison, put the SL8 and the SL7 head to head along with the last version of the Specialized Venge.
Transcript
00:00 (upbeat music)
00:02 Today, we are down in Winchester
00:06 and we're currently sat in the South Down Social Cafe.
00:08 And today I've been joined
00:10 by Specialized Ambassador, Alan Murchison,
00:12 because this is a man who has ridden
00:14 over 70 Specialized bikes.
00:16 He has an in-depth knowledge of the S-Works SL7
00:19 and has recently taken delivery of the SL8.
00:22 So, the question that I'm asking him is,
00:24 what is the difference between the two?
00:27 We've been out on the roads
00:28 to do some real world data testing.
00:29 It's a little bit ghetto, it's a bit of a car park test,
00:32 but it is gonna give us some numbers to have a look at
00:34 to see how these two really perform.
00:37 (upbeat music)
00:40 I think a really good place to start actually
00:44 is just gonna be looking at the similarities
00:46 between both of these bikes,
00:47 because this is the eighth generation of the Tarmac,
00:50 so it is another iteration of it.
00:52 And that means that there are a lot of similarities.
00:54 And I think one of the key ones,
00:56 actually, it's just the shape of the frame.
00:58 They're still sticking with the drop seat stays.
01:00 The frame shape itself actually hasn't changed
01:03 all that much.
01:04 And the geometry is identical.
01:06 It's also meant that comfort of the bike,
01:08 I think is also gonna be quite similar.
01:09 Specialized did quote that there was a 6% improvement
01:12 in compliance at the saddle.
01:14 When you've ridden this bike,
01:14 your short experience with it so far,
01:16 could you feel any difference in comfort
01:18 between the two bikes?
01:19 - Nah. - No.
01:20 - No real comfort. - I think 6%
01:21 is a very small margin. - Yeah, 6%.
01:22 I couldn't feel any real difference.
01:24 It just felt really, really responsive
01:27 without being mega stiff.
01:28 'Cause normally you say, well, it's responsive.
01:31 That means stiff, and stiff means uncomfortable.
01:33 - Yeah. - It seems responsive,
01:35 but it doesn't feel like you're riding a plunk of wood,
01:37 for example.
01:38 - The only other similarity that I can really draw
01:41 from this bike, actually, is the fork of the bike
01:45 really replicates that of the Venge fork.
01:47 I'd say the two between the SL7 and the SL8,
01:50 I think they're actually quite different.
01:51 The SL7 fork is a bit more circular
01:54 and actually a bit narrower,
01:55 whereas the SL8 fork is definitely flatter
01:57 and a bit longer.
01:58 They've really dialled in the aero
01:59 at the front of the bike.
02:01 - I think the other thing is the head tube as well.
02:03 - Yeah. - There's a chunk there,
02:04 and that's more reminiscent of the Venge.
02:06 So when I first saw this bike, it looked quite odd,
02:10 'cause it looked very front heavy,
02:11 because it was built up at the front
02:12 and then very, very small rear stays.
02:14 And I wasn't convinced about the aesthetics of it.
02:17 Whereas when you see it built up,
02:18 yeah, it looks pretty good.
02:20 - Yeah.
02:20 Looking at the price and weights of the bikes on offer,
02:24 an interesting picture emerges.
02:27 Not only is the SL8 now cheaper compared to the SL7
02:30 in certain builds,
02:31 but now you don't need the S-Works SL8
02:33 to beat the S-Works SL7 in weight.
02:37 The difference between the top-end SL7 and SL8
02:40 is a claimed 120 grammes.
02:42 However, the lower grade 10R carbon version of the SL8
02:46 is just 100 grammes heavier than the S-Works version.
02:49 So if you want a bike as light as the S-Works SL7,
02:53 opt for the cheaper variant of the SL8
02:56 and then build it up in a matching spec.
02:59 - I was really surprised at how fast the SL7 was.
03:07 And climbing it was considerably faster than anything else.
03:12 Where the Venge came into its own
03:13 was once you started getting over 50k an hour,
03:15 like dual carriageway stuff, which is rare.
03:18 Let's be brutally honest,
03:19 we all have delusions of riding everywhere at 50k an hour,
03:21 but it's not something that any of us do on a regular basis.
03:24 So the Venge was still very, very fast above 50k an hour,
03:28 but rolling A roads, climbs,
03:30 the time up was just fast from the box.
03:32 It was a really, really fast, easy-to-get-on-with bike,
03:35 and it felt fast.
03:37 And then the numbers, the little test that we did,
03:39 it proved to be really fast on the road.
03:41 Just day-to-day riding is fast.
03:43 - So just run us through,
03:44 what did that test consist of in terms of the parkour?
03:47 - It was a climb, an 800 metre climb.
03:50 It was a couple of k of rolling, bumpy A roads,
03:52 sort of mixed surface,
03:54 and then there was 5k of dual carriageway.
03:56 So a little bit of everything, nothing too technical.
03:59 And I was looking for repeatability as well,
04:01 so I did it on a bit of road that I think,
04:04 according to Strava, I've done over 700 times.
04:07 So I know the road,
04:08 and we did it based on heart rate and power.
04:10 So we did a run on a Venge,
04:13 we did a run on the SL7,
04:14 and we did a run on the SL8.
04:16 Bikes were pretty much set up the same.
04:18 They were all running Dura-Ace Di2,
04:20 power saddles, CLX wheels,
04:23 tyre set ups almost identical.
04:25 So they were all as close as they could be.
04:28 Now one caveat,
04:29 obviously I like to tinker with bikes.
04:31 The Venge and the SL7,
04:34 ceramic bottom brackets,
04:35 ceramic jockey wheels,
04:37 wax chains, et cetera.
04:38 The SL8, straight out of the box.
04:41 Literally no changes at all.
04:43 So it's got standard bottom bracket,
04:44 it's got a greased up chain from the factory,
04:47 and it's got a stack on it, like a Big Mac.
04:50 - 35 mil of stack there.
04:51 So I mean, compared to the SL7, which has 15 mil,
04:55 that's a sizable difference.
04:56 And I think the other thing as well was that
04:59 on the SL8, there is no oversized pulley wheel system.
05:02 - It's a standard system, straight out of the box.
05:05 - Cool. Okay.
05:06 So run us through some of the numbers.
05:07 So first off we had the Venge,
05:08 then the SL7, then the SL8.
05:10 How did the Venge perform?
05:11 - The Venge was really good.
05:13 Today we had a tailwind on a dual carriageway,
05:16 which is always going to favor a full aero bike.
05:18 So climbing, we did the climb,
05:20 the Venge was climbing 19.9 K an hour.
05:24 And it did the little loop that we did
05:27 in 10 minutes and eight seconds,
05:28 maxing out at 66 K an hour.
05:30 So it was fast, it climbed okay, and it was good.
05:34 And it felt really stable.
05:35 So the Venge was good.
05:36 - Okay, cool.
05:37 And then the SL7.
05:38 - SL7 was climbing like an absolute demon.
05:41 Like put in context, the same climb,
05:43 it averaged 20.4 K an hour.
05:45 So half a kilometer an hour faster on a climb
05:48 that's only like minute and a half long.
05:50 - Yeah.
05:51 - It was almost identical speed.
05:52 Max that at 65 K an hour, not quite as fast as the Venge.
05:57 Was honestly, it was within one to two seconds.
06:00 - So to be honest, in the real world,
06:01 that's kind of negligible differences.
06:03 - Yeah, it was what you'd expect.
06:04 The SL7 climbed faster,
06:07 was faster on the bumpy rolling aero road.
06:09 The Venge was faster by 50 K an hour.
06:11 We're not telling anybody anything
06:13 they're not going to expect.
06:14 - Exactly, yeah.
06:15 - And if you went to the aero engineers
06:16 that specialized and said that to them,
06:18 they go, yeah, that's what you're saying.
06:20 - For sure.
06:21 - Then, SL8.
06:22 - Bog standard SL8.
06:24 Now bear in mind,
06:25 this was the first time I rode this bike today.
06:27 So I've done nothing to it.
06:28 I went out.
06:28 It climbed at 20.6 K an hour.
06:32 So that's 0.2 faster than the SL7.
06:35 And 0.7 of a kilometer faster than the Venge.
06:38 Down the fact is when the climb was flattening off,
06:40 it was actually going down the gears.
06:42 I was speeding up.
06:42 - You needed to, yeah.
06:43 - It was remarkable.
06:45 And it did it actually seven seconds faster
06:49 over 10 minutes.
06:50 - And again, very short climb.
06:51 So as soon as you start to extrapolate that out
06:53 over something longer,
06:54 you know, the gains will kind of compound.
06:56 - It was mad.
06:57 And it also maxed out at 69 K an hour.
06:59 - Whoa, so quicker than the Venge.
07:01 - Quicker than the Venge.
07:02 And nearly 4 K an hour faster than the SL7.
07:05 Now bear in mind,
07:06 that's running that stuff.
07:08 I can't get down.
07:09 So it was really, really quick,
07:11 but it just felt fast.
07:12 And there's quite a lot of things I can do
07:13 to make this bike faster and personalize it.
07:15 But it was fast.
07:16 So it was faster on the climb.
07:17 It was faster max speed.
07:18 And it was faster A to B.
07:20 So if you actually put that into context
07:22 on a 10 minute test section,
07:24 you go half an hour, 21 seconds
07:26 over half an hour faster than the SL7.
07:29 Based on real ghetto aero testing.
07:32 But it felt comfortable.
07:33 It felt easy to ride.
07:36 I hadn't dialed it in at all.
07:37 There was nothing I'd done.
07:38 I just rode it.
07:39 - Yeah.
07:40 - And it was bloody quick.
07:41 - Okay. I think that's a really important point.
07:43 I reckon, cause in the real world,
07:45 how many of us are really like accurately tracking?
07:47 I mean, most people ride bikes
07:49 because they enjoy riding a bike.
07:50 For a lot of people, it's not all about the data.
07:53 Sometimes it's about that kind of intangible feel
07:55 a bike gives you.
07:56 So in terms of ride qualities,
07:58 like we were saying,
07:59 you are so dialed in with the SL7.
08:00 You really know that bike.
08:01 Obviously this is still new to you,
08:03 but that also means you're going to be able to pinpoint
08:06 where things are different.
08:08 So how does the ride feel compare from the SL8 to the SL7?
08:13 - Okay. That, it feels more comfortable
08:15 and it feels more responsive,
08:17 which those two things really go hand in hand.
08:19 So you think comfort, you go,
08:21 Ruby, comfortable bike,
08:22 ah, it's comfortable.
08:23 You could be on it all day.
08:24 Responsive, you think,
08:24 I could do an hour and a half, two hours on this.
08:27 That feels comfortable and it feels responsive.
08:30 And it feels fast.
08:31 Like doing just under 70K an hour.
08:34 - Seriously quick.
08:35 - That's pretty fast.
08:36 - Seriously quick.
08:37 - On the first time out on a bike.
08:38 And it was planted, bear in mind,
08:39 cross tailwind to this.
08:40 You've got the wind gusting in.
08:41 So in the same wheels,
08:43 there's something they've done with a back end
08:45 and how it feels.
08:46 It just feels fast.
08:47 - So actually one thing I found with my time with the SL8
08:50 is how stiff the bike felt.
08:52 But I'd be interested to hear from you.
08:54 How do you think the stiffness compares
08:56 not only to the SL7, but also the Venge?
08:58 - The Venge was always a fairly harsh ride.
09:00 - Yeah.
09:01 - Because there was no comfort basically in that bike.
09:03 - Nah, it was never about comfort.
09:05 It won a lot of races,
09:06 but it wasn't as easy to get on with.
09:08 You know what I mean?
09:09 You felt tired after it.
09:11 Whereas you could ride the SL7 day in, day out.
09:14 You could do long days.
09:15 You could do a training camp.
09:16 You could do 25 hours in a week.
09:17 And you wouldn't feel completely battered.
09:19 - Yeah.
09:20 - I would defy anybody to do 25 hours on a Venge
09:23 and not feel tired.
09:24 It was a ruffled ride.
09:26 - Yeah.
09:27 - With this bike,
09:28 I think immediately it just feels more comfortable.
09:30 Now I'm not going to be deluded.
09:31 It's got a high stock.
09:32 It's got wide bars.
09:33 That's always going to feel more comfortable.
09:35 But it's bloody quick.
09:36 That shouldn't be quick in that setup for me.
09:38 - Not at 69K an hour with 35 mil of stock.
09:41 Like that's really surprising.
09:42 - It shouldn't be.
09:43 So you think I take that out
09:44 and then I will play about with the position a bit.
09:45 It's good.
09:46 - If we kind of come away from ride feel
09:48 and we come away from the numbers,
09:50 in terms of aesthetics,
09:53 there's a lot of ethos found within this bike.
09:55 - Yeah.
09:56 - Specifically towards the rear end.
09:57 What are your thoughts in terms of look?
09:59 - I like the look.
10:00 I didn't like it as a frame set when I saw it initially.
10:02 Just because of the bulbous head tube on its own.
10:04 I wasn't convinced.
10:05 And it looked very skinny at the end.
10:07 It looked like a,
10:08 almost like a TT triathlon bike at the front.
10:10 And a crit bike at the rear.
10:12 I thought it was an odd combination.
10:13 - It just kind of looked unbalanced.
10:14 - But when you have it built up,
10:16 it looks great.
10:17 This one's obviously some pearlescent, funky matte white.
10:20 Which, that monochrome look is really cool.
10:22 - It is, yeah.
10:23 - I love it.
10:24 So built up, I think it looks ace.
10:26 I think it looks really good.
10:27 And it's also gone away from the kind of aerofoil tubes.
10:30 There's quite a lot of round tubes going on.
10:31 I like it.
10:33 - So, you and I have been privy to some of the data
10:36 from Specialized.
10:36 You know, Vontu, Milan Sanremo.
10:39 What does that mean to you,
10:41 to a man, woman, cyclist in the street?
10:43 - Not much.
10:44 - Not an awful lot.
10:45 - And the thing is, my issue with that data as well,
10:47 is that it is so far extrapolated
10:48 from a real world race situation.
10:50 It's kind of, that just, to me,
10:51 feels a bit like marketing.
10:53 But, yeah, for the man in the street
10:55 that's going to go and buy one of these bikes,
10:57 what does he or she care about?
10:59 - Yeah, and that's the thing.
11:00 That's why I always like to do this, ghetto testing.
11:02 You know, people are like, "Ah, the tires,
11:04 "or the power meter, or the crank length, or whatever."
11:06 That feels fast.
11:07 I ride my bike a lot.
11:09 I've had a lot of S-Works.
11:11 I've had a lot of road bikes.
11:12 I think that gives you an opinion that's valid.
11:14 - Yes.
11:15 - As opposed to saying, "Well, it'll be however many seconds
11:17 "fast that Vontu, or it'll be X minutes faster
11:19 "than Milan Sanremo."
11:20 None of us are going to race Milan Sanremo.
11:22 Not this week, I don't think.
11:24 It's fast.
11:25 It's easy to ride fast.
11:26 I think that's something that's really important.
11:27 So, look at the data that you're going to get
11:29 from marketing.
11:30 My gut feel, having ridden it,
11:31 is the numbers we're getting from specialized marketing
11:34 downplay how good it is.
11:36 - Interesting, okay.
11:37 - That would be, they've actually erred
11:39 on the side of caution, in my opinion,
11:41 because they did it with the SL7.
11:44 I remember when it came out,
11:45 they gave you these numbers on the SL7.
11:47 And I did some ghetto testing on that.
11:48 I was like, "Nah, it's faster than that."
11:50 And I spoke to some pretty key people
11:52 within Specialized.
11:53 I said, "It's actually faster than the Venge, you know."
11:55 "Is it?"
11:56 I said, "It is."
11:56 On real roads, as a real person.
11:59 And the problem is, is if you've got a World Tour Pro
12:02 testing a bike, or you've got a wind tunnel,
12:04 neither of those are the real world.
12:06 And having tested them--
12:07 - It's a completely staged situation.
12:08 - Yeah, and how a World Tour rider will ride a bike
12:11 with a position, a pedaling technique.
12:13 It's completely, and how they hold their head,
12:16 and how they hold their hands,
12:17 it's all very different to normal cyclists.
12:19 Even people like yourself.
12:21 - For sure.
12:22 - We love a bike, and we ride a bike a lot,
12:23 but we're not World Tour level cyclists.
12:25 And then you go to wind tunnels, and you get data.
12:28 Wind tunnel's only part of the parcel.
12:30 It doesn't take into consideration the texture of the road,
12:33 how fatigued you are.
12:34 It's a finite number,
12:35 but it's a very controlled environment.
12:37 So I think that's why you've got to ride the bike.
12:39 And I think if, I don't know if they're going to run
12:41 demo bikes or whatever, I'm sure they will,
12:43 because people go, "Well, why am I going to change
12:44 "this really good bike?"
12:46 That bike's easy to ride real fast.
12:48 So that's what you've got to say,
12:49 is these numbers are great, but they're only a guideline.
12:51 And that's why I would say, get on the bike,
12:53 ride it, play about with tire pressures,
12:55 play about with tire weather, and see how you get on with it.
12:57 - Obviously, as we said, it's kind of,
12:58 the speed data is one thing, but it's the ride feel.
13:01 That's what people are going to care about.
13:03 And I think we've both experienced the fact
13:05 that this feels markedly different to the SL7.
13:08 - It does, it does.
13:09 And even today, you look, we're going down a dual carriageway
13:11 nearly hitting 70K an hour with a side tailwind.
13:15 I never felt uncomfortable.
13:17 I never felt unstable.
13:18 I felt completely safe
13:19 battering down a dual carriageway like that.
13:21 No problem at all.
13:22 There's not many bikes you could do that on,
13:24 straight out of the box.
13:25 And it felt really, really fast.
13:27 And it just feels intuitive as well.
13:29 So, it's cool, but I'd say,
13:32 use the data numbers as a guideline.
13:34 Don't use them as a benchmark,
13:35 because I actually think that the numbers
13:37 are going to be far better in real life
13:40 than they are on a paper that's published by marketing.
13:43 - So there we have it.
13:44 Now, obviously, I think we do always have to make sure
13:47 that we take a little pinch of salt
13:48 when we're speaking to an ambassador,
13:50 but this is someone who has got a vast amount of knowledge
13:53 of the SL7 and the Venge,
13:55 and basically every S-Works bike.
13:57 Let us know your thoughts though, down below.
13:59 What do you think of the differences
14:00 between the SL7 and the SL8?
14:03 If you enjoyed the video, then please do drop it a like.
14:05 Subscribe to the channel for more content,
14:06 and I will see you again very soon.
14:08 (whooshing)
14:10 (whooshing)