Video: Specialized Aethos First Ride Review - How does the world’s lightest disc-brake road bike ride?

I assume he means 'off the peg' it is that weight. As for Frameset, on the web they claim the frame only is 585 grams, S-Works, size 56cm.

So it's about 100g lighter than a Factor O2 VAM which is raced by Israel SUN. Woop de fucken doo

Forgetting for a sec its "just 100g", taking your 100g as gospel, thats a 15% weight saving, or probably close to an entire seat or chain stays worth.

Weight wise its not much, engineering wise its pretty impressive.  Marginal gains indeed.

I didn't say "just 100g" so please don't make up quotes. 100g is a huge amount to drop - from a frame. From a total build, not so much. Built with the same equipment as a Factor O2, Wilier Z6, Emonda etc it'll be 100g lighter. The marketing hype that this is so light it'll be illegal to race is laughable. An Emonda SLR10 was over a kilogram lighter than this at launch 6 years ago!

"So about 100g..... Woop de fucken doo" does come across as you do not think that is a big deal and easily read as "just". The frame is also lighter then the Emonda you mentioned which was 690g. Of course being disk to being rims will always add weight but it would be interesting if they had more similar other components. For example the Emonda had 22mm tubulars on 890g wheels where this is 26mm tyres on 1290g wheels. 

I'm not sure why you seem to get so up in the air when things come out like this. If they were claiming all of this AND the emonda was still a bike you can get lighter from the manufacturer, then fine. It is like when a supercar is announced as the fastest production car on the market. You could get faster 10 years ago but not now. And it is out the cost range of the majority of us so who cares.

My issue is the marketing claim that its somehow too light to be raced, when it clesarly isn't. its 100g lighter than other frames which are currently raced, frames which have all the modern features like integrated cabling etc which Specialized marketing have for years championed as reasons to buy their frames. Now this throwback to the days of skinny tubes is launched, sure as an exercise in reducing frame weight its a good job, but positioning it as too advanced for sanctioned racing is a joke. As it is, it's a bike without a market - aero was everything last month, now it's not because weight is everything, except it's got loads of heavy stuff on it. People like you seem to lap it up though, so what do I know

Nick T wrote:

My issue is the marketing claim that its somehow too light to be raced, when it clesarly isn't.

Their lightest available builds are too light to be legally raced under UCI road racing regulations - not sure what's contraversial about that. There's nothing inherent about a frame that makes something too light to race, but not sure that's a big point they're making. That said, in their blurb they repeatedly emphasize that they were after ride quality * rather than any particular weight target - whether that's true or not, meh, but they don't appear to be obsessed with that; trot out it's the "lightest disc frame" a few times but not about the bike per se.

* Yeah, whatever that means, although tbf they do actually mention some stuff

From the article

"In the information that Specialized has given us, they state that this bike will not be ridden by the pros in races"

seems pretty clear they want to sell it on the basis that it's too light for sanctioned racing

Nick T wrote:

From the article

"In the information that Specialized has given us, they state that this bike will not be ridden by the pros in races"

seems pretty clear they want to sell it on the basis that it's too light for sanctioned racing

That is honestly one of the weirdest extrapolations i've ever heard...

From specialized website, if this makes it easier to grasp

https://www.specialized.com/us/en/aethos

"we broke those sacred UCI rules too"

"Rules? What rules? Turns out, this bike may be *illegal in some circles (*psst..don't tell the UCI")

As mentioned earlier, their lightest complete bike is, as it stands, illegal to use in a UCI road race event - so it's  marketing blurb at it's finest but technically correct.

As far as your comment that it "seems pretty clear they want to sell it on the basis that it's too light for sanctioned racing" immediately after a quote you posted viz

Quote:

"In the information that Specialized has given us, they state that this bike will not be ridden by the pros in races"

..that just doesn't follow, there is a number of reasons for that (replied in another thread about noodly bottom brackets) and it seems to go against what they themselves say was important in the design brief

"We stopped worrying about winning, or the way things are supposed to be done, and instead chased the greatest expression of ride quality ever made"

"gave us the opportunity to improve the ride quality delivered by material and layup"

"For once, we're not in it, to win it"

"With Aethos, we chased ride quality, not a number"

Notice a theme (flowery marketing speel aside) ? 

So it is lighter then, like they are mentioning. I wonder if this is 585g painted?

Ah but 'it can be built' means the journos can hammer out click bait headlines like 'world's lightest road bike'. 
 

I've also noted 'if you want hyper-fast you still have the Venge, for now' - so is a certain road.cc writer going to retract his claim that it's been discontinued? Doubt it. 

Yep Jimmy, I can still see a Venge online to order from Specialized. Surely if you can't order it from the manufacturer it is discontinued. 

https://www.specialized.com/gb/en/shop/bikes/road-bikes/performance-road...

I suspect because some organised rides /  Sportives want you to have a UCI approved frame. Weight is not the problem, design is.