Specialized Aethos - Is it Just Me?

[lavi]

This is getting interesting. I'm in no way an apologist for Specialized or for the Aethos bike.

However, having owned one, and having ridden lots and lots of bikes...I can say with full confidence that the ride quality and geo/handling of the Aethos are superlative. No placebo affect. No nothing. Yes, not cheap...but that doesn't lead to a person saying it rides better than it does.

Honestly and directly to the OP with no snark or offense intended, you are likely in very small company with your assessment. Yes, ymmv and all that. However, the Aethos has been widely hailed as one of the best bikes, ever. I'd be inclined to agree.

But as for me and my house (of bikes), steel is real. So I sold mine. EOS.

[jimoots]

Originally Posted by lavi

This is getting interesting. I'm in no way an apologist for Specialized or for the Aethos bike.

However, having owned one, and having ridden lots and lots of bikes...I can say with full confidence that the ride quality and geo/handling of the Aethos are superlative. No placebo affect. No nothing. Yes, not cheap...but that doesn't lead to a person saying it rides better than it does.

Honestly and directly to the OP with no snark or offense intended, you are likely in very small company with your assessment. Yes, ymmv and all that. However, the Aethos has been widely hailed as one of the best bikes, ever. I'd be inclined to agree.

But as for me and my house (of bikes), steel is real. So I sold mine. EOS.

I had a Time VXR, which is probably in good company with the Atheos in terms of ride quality. I could only ever achieve a stack that was 5mm lower than what my typical fit dictates. As such, it was horrible to ride - excruciating even.

5mm isn't going to be what dictates pleasure and pain for most, but I according to my fitter am at the 'edge' of my fit, so here we are.

I imagine it's probably something similar for the OP.

[gone]

I'll agree with all of this with one exception: I still have my Aethos and love it.

And FWIW, other bikes in the stable include 2 Kirks, a Firefly, a Nagasawa, 2 Serottas, a Parlee, a Pinarello F8, a Crumpton, a Hampsten SBti, a Trek Emonda, ...

The Aethos holds its own with all of them.

And the usual YMMV disclaimer.

Originally Posted by lavi

This is getting interesting. I'm in no way an apologist for Specialized or for the Aethos bike.

However, having owned one, and having ridden lots and lots of bikes...I can say with full confidence that the ride quality and geo/handling of the Aethos are superlative. No placebo affect. No nothing. Yes, not cheap...but that doesn't lead to a person saying it rides better than it does.

Honestly and directly to the OP with no snark or offense intended, you are likely in very small company with your assessment. Yes, ymmv and all that. However, the Aethos has been widely hailed as one of the best bikes, ever. I'd be inclined to agree.

But as for me and my house (of bikes), steel is real. So I sold mine. EOS.

[nmrt]

test rode the s-works aethos for almost a whole day in the CO mountains. good amount of climbing and lots of fast twisty descents. enough, i felt, to give me an idea of how the bike handled and rode.

mind you, i rode the aethos after being completely enamored by the marketing and the lack of weight.

the bike was great -- for a carbon bike. but i would not pay $5500 for this frame. i have other bikes in mind where i'd be more likely to drop this kind of cash.

[osbk67]

85% of newly custom-built Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc. owners will still own and love them in five years.

85% of Aethos owners love them now and will have sold them in five years.

85% of Aethos owners now will buy a new custom-built Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc. eventually.

Probably and more or less.

[cabriggs]

Originally Posted by robt57

Ridden a Domane or a Roubaix? Curious where the ranking might be of yes? And of yes, what level fact or OCLV etc..

A couple years ago I test rode all three back to back. Really liked both the Domane and Synapse. If I'd had to pick one of them on the spot, I'd have taken the Domane by the slimmest of margins. The Roubaix was a clear third place for me and it wasn't particularly close, which was disappointing since at the time I had an alu Diverge with Future Shock and liked it. Go figure.

Don't remember the exact Fact/OCLV numbers, but they were all in the $2800-3000 range, so regular carbon not hi-mod.

Lucky for me, right after that I found a used hi-mod Synapse for a deal, got it and still love it.

[rallizes]

Originally Posted by osbk67

85% of newly custom-built Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc. owners will still own and love them in five years.

85% of Aethos owners love them now and will have sold them in five years.

85% of Aethos owners now will buy a new custom-built Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc. eventually.

Probably and more or less.

Aethos owner buying a Sachs?

I just don't see it

[sleepyfelix]

I'm an Aethos owner and love it. I also have had and still have some great steel bikes, and have rim and disc. Its good to have both CF and steel I think. I'd love to have a Sachs, but even if I got on the wait list now, I think if I'd sold the Aethos in 5 years time I'd still be waiting for the Sachs?

[KonaSS]

85% of newly custom-built Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc. owners will still own and love them in five years. - This is probably true, but I notice many custom bike owners also have a large(r) stable of bikes than most.

85% of Aethos owners love them now and will have sold them in five years. Maybe not 85%, but probably larger than the custom crowd. But again, this may be in a stable of 2-3 bikes.

85% of Aethos owners now will buy a new custom-built Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc. eventually. I don't buy this at all. Single digits (~5%?) at most. You are vastly underestimating the number of Aethos owners compared to top tier custom owners.

[charliedid]

Originally Posted by osbk67

85% of newly custom-built Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc. owners will still own and love them in five years.

85% of Aethos owners love them now and will have sold them in five years.

85% of Aethos owners now will buy a new custom-built Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc. eventually.

Probably and more or less.

What is your favorite flavor of Kool-Aid?

[pasadena]

100% of Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc owners don't even make up 10% of Aethos production

Why compare such different markets? Just based on dollar value?

Rolls Royce and a Ferrari can be similar dollar value. They are completely different markets.

Originally Posted by osbk67

85% of newly custom-built Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc. owners will still own and love them in five years.

85% of Aethos owners love them now and will have sold them in five years.

85% of Aethos owners now will buy a new custom-built Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc. eventually.

Probably and more or less.

[krooj]

Originally Posted by rallizes

yes

I didn't take photos of either, but the 54cm had about 2" of spacers (inc top cap) under the stem, so there's no way it was an appropriate frame size. FWIW, I'm 5'10" @150lbs, which is dead average. Wingspan is about 1" less than height.

Half tempted to still buy a frameset and build it up to see how it comes out.

[rallizes]

Originally Posted by sleepyfelix

I'm an Aethos owner and love it. I also have had and still have some great steel bikes, and have rim and disc. Its good to have both CF and steel I think. I'd love to have a Sachs, but even if I got on the wait list now, I think if I'd sold the Aethos in 5 years time I'd still be waiting for the Sachs?

You could get a Bishop in a year I hear. So many options other than Sachs, and many better these days. I never understood the ATMO appeal.

[osbk67]

85% of Aethos owners now will buy a new custom-built Kirk/Sachs/Baum etc. eventually.

85% means not in every case

etc. means or another outstanding built-to-last frame/set made to order by craftspersons

eventually means when seasonal replacement of the latest and greatest factory-produced frame/bicycle is no longer essential/desirable/affordable/acceptable/sustainable

Just occasionally I like to poke the bear with a stick. To each their own.

[mtechnica]

Originally Posted by krooj

I didn't take photos of either, but the 54cm had about 2" of spacers (inc top cap) under the stem, so there's no way it was an appropriate frame size. FWIW, I'm 5'10" @150lbs, which is dead average. Wingspan is about 1" less than height.

Half tempted to still buy a frameset and build it up to see how it comes out.

Depends on your fit and riding style. Dude I ride with is taller than you and runs a 54 with a slammed 140mm stem, but he is a very fit bike racer. It sounds like you would be better off with a frame that has more endurance oriented geometry TBH. The aethos is a racer’s bike (at least as far as fit, handling, etc). Maybe check out a Roubaix?