There is an £8,000 difference between the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 and the Elves Vanyar Pro Disc. But what does this gulf in price equate to in terms of bike tech, components and performance?
Liam Cahill tests the two bikes, comparing them on the flat and in the hills. But which bike do you think is better? Let us know in the comments.
#racebike #cycling #value
Chapters
00:00 Intro
01:00 Climbing
02:18 Aero
04:14 Build
06:30 Value
07:16 Is The Superbike Worth It?
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Will spending 12 Grand on a bike make you faster when you can get something similar for 4 grand and even if it does is it worth it we’re going to find out by putting this specialized s Works tarmac sl8 a top-of-the-line racer up against this elves vanar Pro disc a Top
Value road bike that boasts most of the same features but who do you think will win in this battle of David versus Goliath let’s find out Right the first test is climbing the elves weighs a little bit more than the specialized which is the biggest Factor when it comes to going up steeper gradients this is a very simple test I’m going to ride a climb of 1 and 1/2 km somewhere over there on both bikes at
300 WS look who’s being training we’re going to see if there’s been a time difference right let’s go 3 2 1 Go God that’s a noisy free Hub well that’s the climb done on both bikes now before you jump into the comment I only did one run so this isn’t scientific I have to note that these results aren’t exactly statistically significant either but there was a difference the elves
Well it went up in 4 minutes 51 seconds spending 8 Grand more on the special I saved me 9 seconds there are two ways to look at this the first is that the elves is only a little slower which is great if you’re not worried about a few
Seconds then save your money but if you do care about marginal gains there is a clear time saving if those seconds help you to win a race or achieve your goals then maybe it’s an expense that you want to pay right then let’s move on some Aerodynamics when it comes to aerodynamics there is a clear difference between these two bikes elves is a relatively small brand and it doesn’t have masses of cash to spend on wind tunnel time or supercomputer cfd simulations in fact the vanar pro disc got none of those in its design phased
Specialized meanwhile is a massive company and the tarmac SLA was basically born went to school and graduated in a wind tunnel so what difference does it make I’ll be riding a 2 km stretch at 250 WS to see if they is a time difference between the two bikes I’ve
Tried my best to get the bike positions as close as possible to each other I’ll also keep my arms kind of locked down like this but it doesn’t take an arrow expert to see that this isn’t a Flawless test there are big differences in the Wheel sets for example enough said on
With the Testing so like the climbing test we have to remember that it only did one run on each bike so take the result with a very big pinch of salt there are other factors than just Arrow at plate as well rolling resistance bearings frame wheel interaction fit to the bike the list
Goes on but with the runs done we again have a clear if very small difference the sl8 was just too seconds faster my average speeds were so so close and honestly I didn’t really feel a difference but I’m quite tired now so that’s enough testing Let’s Line the bikes up and compare the Builds both of these bikes have full carbon frames and and forks both have fully integrated front ends and both have carbon tubless ready Wheels in fact both used an electronic group set and hydraulic disc brakes but look closely and there are some key differences the elves has shimano’s algra di2 which is
Going to be heavier than the stram red group set that you’ll find on the tarmac sl8 personally I’d probably stick with the altegra di2 Asam red is just way more expensive and it won’t save you that much weight in fact which one would you pick let us
Know down in the comments below Now The Wheels on the SLA are the highly regarded rvo rapid CLX 2s these are far deeper and wider than the orome Valor th30 Wheels on the elves the former might be a better option for all round speed while the latter having reviewed
The elves myself was a bit more at home on the Hills while both Bites come equipped with a onepiece cockpit to my eyes the road system on the sl8 is just a more elegant Affair it’s just that chunky stem on the elves looks just a
Little Hefty to me that said when we get to the saddle elves should be applauded this has a 3D printed upper a carbon base and carbon rails I’ve been super happy testing it and it cost just 137 quid now compare that to the S Works
Power saddle on the sl8 it to has a carbon base and rails but it will set you back 250 55 quid if you want the version with a 3D printed upper that will cost you a whopping 350 quid for a lot of people I think the main highlight
Though of the elves aside from the price is the fact that you can have it custom painted for free if you’re one of those people that bemon all black bikes then this is really something to consider and for what it’s worth I think that both bikes look really really Cool value is such a tricky one to talk about but I don’t think I can avoid it when we’re comparing a super bike to a much cheaper option now for me the elves represents much better value for money for recreational Riders if like me you just enjoy going for bike rides then 4
Grand is a far more reasonable price to pay the elves still gives you a carbon frame disc brakes tubless ready wheels and a cable free front end the tarmac well it is a bit faster and it feels a little comfier to me but are these differences worth 8 Grand not to me if
You really care about going as fast as possible then the SLA is going to help and if you want to spend the money then cool it is your cash after all so yes you can buy more speed if you want but the age-old issue of diminishing returns applies so spend
Your money wisely if I was choosing between these two bikes then it have to be the elves but I wouldn’t buy it before seriously considering a cheaper tarmac sl8 like the 6,000 L expert model but which of these two bikes would tempt you the most let me know down in the
Comments as ever please remember to like this video If you enjoyed it and subscribe it really does help us out thanks for watching and if you want to see the sl8 up against the canyon ultimate just click here
33 Comments
Which bike would you buy? Let us know in the comments! 👇👇👇
4k vs 12k is 1/3rd the price which in that context IS CHEAP!
The crux of the topic is actually exposing the prices of premium brands and actually is great consumer advice regardless, I feel this topic went well over the heads of some or more accurately in one ear, bounced around the hollow dome and left out the other ear… on the upside, you can save on not buying a helmet because there is nothing to save.
I build my Elves for 2600 , with sram 12 speed electronic groupset , carbon wheels , continental tyres . Weight less than 8kg , custom paint aswell 😊
Tarmac
I recently built an Elves Eglath with their wheels, bars and Ultegra Di2. So far it has proved great value compared to stock bikes. The ratchet hub is loud (very loud) some like it some don’t. Horses for courses. To buy the same spec off the shelf would have cost me €2k more my biggest frustration with buying off the shelf to a budget is you end up buying components you don’t want in the first place. (Stem length, saddle & possibly wheels). I’ve had plenty of bikes so was a no brainer for me. The custom paint is awesome! Time will tell but so far I’m delighted with it. Had I gone with mechanical or 105. I could have saved more but was happy to pay the extra for Di2.
The Tarmac is by far the nicer looking bike but Elves also do a more Aero road bike, The Falath which has the more chunky look of the Specialized. I have one myself Andy love it. Only cost me about £2300 to build but it is mechanical gears and not Di2. Looks every bit as nice as the Tarmac. The customer service is excellent as they have teams of people in various parts of Europe and UK. You can contact them directly with any queries or problems rather than trying to deal with someone in China.
Deeper rims on the S-works alone should make a small but noticeable difference. Anyway, if you build your own bike you can save a ton of money and there are excellent budget friendly frame manufacturers out there to choose from. I once did a S-works+ build just using a cheap(er) model with same frame, upgrading almost everything and still saved a lot. But some people do not have the time, knowledge or energy to fiddle with bike building – so good there are choices out there!
Elves offers custom paint to avoid an all black bike…then sends an all black bike for testing 😬
The Elves is a stunner😍🥰
Wheels and tyres are the great leveler, and the time gaps here are minimal anyway. Try a series of bikes say £1k, £3k, £6k, £12k with the same wheel/tyre set on each over multiple runs – that would be interesting.
I would go down to 105 Di2 and spend the difference on a not-Chinese frame and wheels.
coming from the mtb side of the cylcing spectrum, my experience is that at a certain pricepoint there will be a diminishing return of performance vs price.. for example the average user wont notice a diffrence between a bike that alloy wheelset and a carbon wheelset .. even tho the alloy set costs about as much as 1 carbon wheel
The aero between them would be so small, well nothing really, it would come down to tyres and possibly wheels. Both bikes are over priced. The bike industry is destroying itself with pricing and marketing BS.
What kind of build have you got on the Elves? Why does it weight so much got 4k ?
4k for a bike its STILL ridiculously expensive
Differences is negligible and all it comes down to is power and cda.
Thank you very much to Bike Radar and Liam Cahill for taking the time and interest in the Elves Vanyar Pro Disc 2024. We have really enjoyed and valued seeing this bike compared to more well-known and highly respected western brands. As we emerge in the western markets, from our perspective, we appreciate riders being able to fully understand our value proposition, and what Elves Bikes are contributing towards industry development. This has been a really authentic review; the bike spec was designed in line with our most popular selling groupset over the last 12 months as we wanted to make sure the consumer got full transparency. Yes, we could have built with Dura Ace, and there are many sub 7kg versions of this bike that riders have built. But to continue to build trust and confidence with riders, we felt the Ultegra Di2 with the Vittoria tyres was the right call rather than putting the highest spec on the bike. As a business, we are doing our best to challenge the price point for performance which this whole review and video captured perfectly. Thank you once again for the interest and time taken. Elves Bikes UK & Europe
First they say that is not a cientific test, after the test they say that theres is a clear time saving
The Elves "bikes" are quite expensive compared to buying the components from them and building it yourself. That said, the Vanyar is still heavy for a "climbing" bike. The Eglath (endurance) is only 100g heavier (frame+forks) and will be more comfortable.
$4K is cheap these days for a fully built road bike.
Either of those prices for a person-powered bije is a sick joke and rip off compared with the materials, engineering etc that goes into m'cycles!
Next time pump the tyer in front also 5 – 6 kg when you test, everybody can see that you test with tyer in front thats not correct at the sheap bike !
Neither cant stand disc brakes
Both bikes are far out of my price range
Pretty much Canyon CF SLX (Ultimate or Aeroad) is the best bike value you can get.
It's not just bikes. Has anyone purchased a Kuat, Yakima, or Tule bike rack lately? They cost as must as roundtrip airfare between San Francisco and Sydney.
$2500 MAX thanks
Why don't you give Java a try. They sell a full carbon bike with internal routing and 105 groupset for £1600
I've been riding an Elves rim brake the last year. Built at a bit over 14lb. In the past I've ridden Trek, Cervelo, Cannondale, and I don't think I'm missing anything riding this setup that's like a third of the price. I'm a cat 2 racer, and I'm confident this bike isn't holding me back for any race results in any type of road/circuit race. On top of that, for I think what is about 70USD, you can get the custom paint job. To me it's sort of a no-brainer going this route, and seeing people spend 10, 12 14+k USD or whatever on the usual boring big name brands, makes you realize how much people just want to show off expensive bikes as a status symbol, or they're just ignorant about what else they can spend their money on besides the usual worldtour brands.
ultegra all day – best most durable and reliable performance groupset ever made.
these comparison videos should always be treated as a bit of fun as Liam points out its not scientific, but after that its always obvious that the big bike manufacturers and component makers have forced up and inflated prices to ridiculous levels of expense, as much as various youtube channels have tried the prices can't be justified and there needs to be a reset off pricing to a more realistic price point or sales are going to keep falling and people are going to be put off taking up cycling by the cost, its not just the bike manufacturers, clothing manufactures have got in on the act to and the big companies are charging insane prices for bib shorts and tops, its crazy that bike companies always seem to need to bring out new bars and stems for each new bike in there range instead of sticking with a 2 or 3 bar combinations for there road bikes and getting a few years out of them, all that un necessary R & D gets passed on to the customer, on the 2 bikes in the video, under the paint the Elves will be very different the frame will be built not to fail as its sold direct to customer from China and they will want to avoid frame warranty issues so there will be extra carbon at all junctions and thicker tube walls through out so it will feel different in compliance and weight but still offer great value for money, the issue choosing though in the UK would come down to bike snobbery, what do you want to be seen riding over value for money.
No bike justifies $12k.
I like the look of the Elves but would put on better wheels