When owning a wind tunnel costs you sales.
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This makes the SL7 that much more desirable. Makes me wonder what conversations took place at Specialized HQ over the Tarmac.
The new 3T Strada did the same bulgy head tube thing…it either for aero or to integrate/hide the cables. Or both, I’m sure Speci tested the sh*& outta that in their tunnel
Looks absolutely terrible
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Likely both…they can keep the headtube narrow and still hide the cables.
Only plausible scenario is the following:
CFO went in and said “design the ugliest thing you can so we can get rid of current inventory and bring on the sl9 immediately afterwards” 
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That actually makes a lot of sense, lmao!
To quote the great Caley Fretz; I’m not sure I like aero anymore.
Edit: Meant Caley… curse you autocorrect
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Darn auto correct… guessing you wrote & meant Caley?
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I still think the SL6 Rim is the prettiest of them all.
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There was an SL8 thread already:
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Indeed… I considered merging it right away. I left this since that last one was idle since April, and this is seemingly the closest to a release. But I can still merge if people like that option.
The headtube isn’t deep enough and the BB is open - leads to be believe they are going back to a Tarmac/venge lineup.
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Agreed, that Seat Tube is much less aero shaped than the current SL7.
I also saw mention of a “new venge” on some chinese component brand’s website. With the UCI relaxing their tube shaping rules, I bet we’ll see some more dedicated aero bikes.
still looks better than new Treks lol
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At least it doesn’t have a fist hole
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Well, that depends on which Trek you want to compare. Since the Tarmac most closely aligns with the Emonda, I’d say the Emonda is still quite pretty and mostly “traditional” despite gaining some aero in the 3rd Gen.
Stepping over to the Madone as their hardcore aero/sprint bike is a different story, but kind of a mis-comparison, IMO. Agreed that the latest Madone is an acquired taste, but maybe it’s best left to the rumored Venge return?
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the SL7 is Specialized’s aero race bike, if I was looking at Trek it would have been Madone.
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We call it the Trek Butthole around here 
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Biggest winners with this are:
- Recent SL7 buyers
- Canyon with the Ultimate CFR
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