FYI my front derailleur shifting is nearly perfect now with the shim added behind the FD mount. I haven't had a chain drop in the past ~100 miles or so since adding the shim and retuning the derailleurs. Also, it was much, much easier to get the FD adjusted correctly after adding a shim.

Quote from: rcwsr on August 04, 2025, 03:35:13 PM
Good to hear! Did you use rubber or plastic in the end?

Rubber, and I only needed a tiny little strip of 1/16" rubber. You could probably get away with stacking a few layers of old inner tube to accomplish the same thing.

Quote from: rcwsr on July 27, 2025, 03:24:52 PM
Shimming is the way. As a test I cut a bit of a builders spacer up to put under the right side of the mount, it's about 1.5mm thick. Works a treat, I just need to find something more aesthetically pleasing, maybe a black credit card or something. Photos show before and after tension bolt adjustment.

I was finally able to add a shim under the FD mount, it made a huge difference in adjustability. Super easy to get the limits right after this change too. No issues on a quick 11 mile ride earlier today, hoping this solved my chain drop issue for good.

I used Shimano everything when it came to the brake line. It's the brakes, I want peace of mind that I can stop when I need to.

I used red automotive bearing grease for my old bikes, but I use Motorex 2000 now since I got a tub for the new build. Honestly I think the red stuff is fine, it's still grease after all, and let's be honest, these are just bikes... but the yellow-green Motorex looks cool and I feel better about using it

I used a zinc-based anti-seize for the bottom bracket and crank interface, along with all of the Titanium bolts that are on the bike.

Quote from: rcwsr on July 28, 2025, 03:31:09 PM
I used an old credit card and sharpied the white edges in the end. I didn't take a photo of it, but it's just wide enough to sit snugly to the right of the rivets, and just showing to the right of the mount, held in place by the mount itself. Shifting is great so far in the work stand.

Yes I requested a 0mm seatpost, thanks for the link! Not sure why they sent this barrel style clamp though.

Nice. If the roll of rubber doesn't work for me I'll try an old credit card too.

Were you not worried about marring your frame with the plastic card though?

As for the 0mm seatpost, does it look like the second image in this page?
https://www.sportforlife.co.th/en/p/12610/sw-tarmac-sl8-carbon-post-380mm-0-offset

It seems like the barrel style clamp is standard for Specialized 0 offset seat posts.

Quote from: rcwsr on July 28, 2025, 01:36:12 AM
I think this shim was the minimum I could get away with.

It sounds like I'll have to combine multiple layers of film to produce a shim thick enough to make a difference then.

I think I may get a cheap roll of 1/16" rubber instead. The only thing I'm worried about is how compressible the rubber is and if/when it degrades, I'll have to remake this shim sometime again.

Quote from: rcwsr on July 28, 2025, 01:36:12 AM
I realise now that we have different saddle clamps, mines an open hole that uses wedges to tighten, no idea what this style is called so I'm struggling to find anything lighter. Will get a ti bolt for it soon.

Did you get a zero offset seatpost somehow? Not sure how that looks like but theres some details on reddit:

https://www.reddit.com/r/specialized/comments/1fit7yj/tarmac_sl8_carbon_post_0_offset/

Quote from: rcwsr on July 26, 2025, 03:25:28 AM
I wonder if I can shim it with something, or failing that use a band adapter.

Btw where did you order your seat clamp from I can't find it in stock.

I got it from performance bike, they were one of very few online shops that had it for a reasonable price.

https://www.performancebike.com/specialized-alpinist-upper-lower-seat-clamps-black-w-hardware-kit-s204900004/p1269982

Nice work on the shim, thanks for sharing. I think I'll try PPF under the mount the next time I rotate my chain. Do you think you could have gotten away with a thinner shim?

Quote from: Westmatix on July 25, 2025, 01:24:14 AM
Secondly.....the bottom bearing, when installing on fork, is far from touching. This means as you preload...you are just putting pressure on this bearing. See pic.

I'm almost certain in my case that the bottom bearing sat against the top of the fork. Everything looked flush even without preload, prior to cutting the steerer tube.

Quote from: rcwsr on July 25, 2025, 11:58:52 AM
That doesn't look right how does the built in crown race look?

I'm anticipating an issue with front derailleur alignment. With it in place and tightened up to the hanger, the back of the cage is too far outboard and I've not touched the support set screw yet. Anyone else had this issue?

Yup, I had the same issue with my 105 FD. Even with the support screw backed all the way out, it installed with some toe-in and I couldn't pivot it outwards on the mount. I haven't come up with a fix yet, but it does shift fine without chain rub after I gave the FD adjustment extra attention.

I can't tell from the pictures but I assume there has to be some kind of housing stop on the frame on your current setup or else you wouldn't be able to shift properly. So on your new setup, without some kind of housing stop, you wouldn't be able to shift anything. The housing provides something to pull the cable against.

So it seems like running the shift housing the way you have it currently is the way to go, unless you're able to fit the housing all the way through to the derailleurs. The last generation of mechanical Shimano FDs have housing stops built-in (installation doc), so if you're able to get the housing all the way through, I would.

Quote from: kolanx on July 23, 2025, 01:10:48 AM
Like this one? https://pl.aliexpress.com/item/1005008630301279.html?spm=a2g0o.productlist.main.4.196628e4RPSvGB&algo_pvid=faa0f02a-9f1f-48f4-a8b6-d38087c103c0&algo_exp_id=faa0f02a-9f1f-48f4-a8b6-d38087c103c0-3&pdp_ext_f=%7B%22order%22%3A%2287%22%2C%22eval%22%3A%221%22%7D&pdp_npi=4%40dis%21PLN%2187.48%2141.99%21%21%21168.82%2181.04%21%402103956b17532508873468740ecd68%2112000046535805983%21sea%21PL%21705992700%21X&curPageLogUid=Stufob2jiwNC&utparam-url=scene%3Asearch%7Cquery_from%3A

Why no Shimano bracket like Ultegra SM-BBR60 BSA Hollowtech II ?

Yup, except for whatever reason ZTTO calls it BB91. I got it in the 24mm version. They have a lot of versions for DUB, GXP, etc. so make sure you know which one to get.

I got it cheaper from their own store here: link.

As for why, I figured why not? I suppose if you want peace of mind go with Shimano, but I saw good feedback on ZTTO BBs on this forum so I decided to take the chance. After all, my frame, seatpost, and handlebar is from a company that no one outside of this forum has heard of

Bottom brackets are just a plastic shell for bearings anyway. If it goes, it goes, I can replace it in 15 minutes.

Quote from: kolanx on July 22, 2025, 08:25:13 AM
Which type of bottom brackets do you have on your SpCycle R088 frame?

I'm using the ZTTO BSA bottom bracket with no issues. Spins perfectly fine

Also checking in here with a weigh-in now that my luggage scale came in: 7.65 kg on a 56cm frame including bottle cages, pedals, and computer mount. For roughly ~$3.4k for component cost, it weighs less than the SL8 comp with Rival components at ~$1k less AND I bet that weight doesn't include pedals and accessories. I also have heavy ass Cinturato tires on which I can swap out for GP5ks to get the weight down under 7.5 kg, which I'm kinda motivated to switch to now.

Oh, I also have a power meter. Something the $4.5k bike doesn't have.

I think I got great value and reliability in this electronic shifting, distance training, mild weight-weenie build. It's going to be a fun summer 

Quote from: havox07 on July 21, 2025, 09:15:34 AM
Any non just buy a SL8 seatpost solution to have actual markings on my seatpost? Still trying to get the perfect height and its not easy to do with no references.

I would just use masking tape to figure out what your current length is and adjust from there... sounds a lot cheaper than buying the real thing just for seat markings. If you want a better solution, I would try a measuring stick and fine-point paint markers -- I imagine any light color would work including white, silver, and gold. Not a super permanent solution as the paint would wear off over time but I imagine it would work pretty well and achieve an OEM look.

For me it was easy; since I had to cut my seatpost because maximum insertion was simply too tall, I only had to bring it up ~1 cm from max depth.