Specialized S-Works Aethos
£11,750 / AN ULTR A LIGHT R ACE BIK E THAT ’S NOT FOR R ACERS? WHAT ’S THE STORY?
Specialized’s eye-wateringly expensive Aethos stands out from today’s cutting-edge frames in all sorts of ways. There’s no mention of aerodynamics, kammtail tubes or dropped seatstays… there’s no Future Shock suspension or Hover bar. This is not what we’d expect from Specialized’s design team, which usually seems determined to be as forwardthinking as possible.
No, Specialized’s new S-Works Aethos is all about purity and delivering a super-lightweight performance with price clearly not one of its considerations. The claimed frame weight is just 585g for a 56cm model and the overall weight of our 58cm test bike is a scant 6.39kg, seriously featherweight for a bike with disc brakes. Remarkably, there’s also an even lighter and more exclusive ‘Founder’s Edition’ Aethos. Limited to just 300 bikes worldwide, this weighs just 6kg but will empty your wallet to the tune of £13,000. Hmmm…
For Pete’s sake
The man leading Specialized’s Aethos design team is German engineer Peter Denk, one of the key innovators in cycling when it comes to lightweight carbon engineering. He was behind the original Scott Addict, at 790g the lightest frameset of its time on its 2007 release. And he followed this by creating Cannondale’s SuperSix EVO, while Specialized was working on its Tarmac and first-generation aerodynamic Venge. You can clearly see the DNA of Peter’s groundbreaking Addict and EVO in the Aethos – there are the simple round tubes, a skinny fork and tapering seatstays that join at the junction of the top tube and seat tube. If it wasn’t for the latest flat-mount disc-brake fittings, you might think the Aethos dated from the Noughties rather than 2021.
But apart from an astonishingly low weight – and the cries of ‘You could buy a car for that!’ – what are you getting for your £11,750? For starters, the Aethos is equipped with Shimano’s flagship Dura-Ace Di2 electronic groupset with Specialized’s own dual-sided power meter built into the 9100 chainset. And the Aethos frameset was designed specifically for electronic groupsets, so we’re not expecting an ‘affordable’ 105-equipped version any time soon.
CLX appeal
As you’d expect, the wheelset is a match for the quality of the groupset. The Alpinist CLX wheels, from Specialized’s wheel arm Roval, weigh in at an incredibly light 1248g a pair. Surprisingly in a road-cycling world going down the tubeless tyre route, these have standard clincher rims, although Specialized does supply super-light inner tubes to accompany the 26mm-wide Turbo Cottons, which are seriously luxurious tyres. Put simply, the higher a tyre’s thread count – measured in threads per inch – the lighter and more supple the tyre. And the Turbo’s 320 TPI is about as high as it gets.
One way that the Aethos does follow a modern design trend is in the Alpinist rims’ 21mm inner
Specialized's ne S-Works Aethos is all about purity and delivering a superlightweight performance