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Men's Tarmac Expert

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2018 Men's Tarmac Expert

Our S-Works Tarmac may be the optimal bike for winning a Grand Tour, but chances are, you’re not going to be competing in Southern France this season. But when you need a bike that’s ready to annihilate the competition on your training rides and local races, the new Tarmac Expert is pretty damn hard to beat.

To get the weight around 950 grams, we utilized advanced aerospace composite optimization software to revolutionize the construction and layup of our new FACT 10r carbon. It's the most advanced material and schedule we've ever made—the shape, schedule, and material optimization allowed us to shed nearly 200 grams. That's right, a 20% reduction in frame weight—the perfect recipe for your next hill climb PR.

We then further improved our Rider-First Engineered™ technology to ensure that the new Tarmac is stiff and compliant in exactly the right places. With this revamp, we also updated the geometry—basing it on countless Retül data points and professional rider input. This enabled us to develop a performance road geometry that perfects the combination of a responsive front end and short wheelbase, delivering instantaneous response and optimal power transfer.

And while stiffness aids in the aforementioned, compliance must also be utilized for an optimal ride quality. That's why we designed a seatpost that builds compliance into the upper 120mm where clamping doesn’t happen, dropped the seatstays, and altered the seat tube shape. We also added tire clearance up to 30mm, which translates to a 28mm Turbo Cotton on a Roval SLX 24 rim. This allows lower pressures for decreased rolling resistance, increased traction, and more comfort. Altogether, these additions still have the Tarmac riding like a true race-machine, but just takes a bit of the sting out of those road imperfections. You’ll thanks us on your next long ride.

And while this is all great, we know that aerodynamics are the most important thing we can do to make you faster. Both our Bora-Hansgrohe and Team Quick Step Floors Pro Tour riders, after all, are demanding aero improvements on every bike. With this, the aero goal was to discover where we could essentially “add aero for free,” by not taking anything away from the hallmarks of the Tarmac design. During the six-month iterative process, three areas were discovered where we could do this—a new fork shape, dropped seatstays with aero tubes, and a d-shaped seatpost and seat tube. The result? A bike that’s approximately 45 seconds faster over 40km compared to other lightweight bikes in the same category. A speed savings that you'll feel when you're attacking off the front of the peloton.

This new Tarmac comes ready to race out of the box, featuring a crisp Shimano Ultegra 8000 groupset, lightweight Roval Rapide CL 50 rims laced to DT Swiss hubs, our fastest S-Works Turbo 26mm tires, and a sublime Toupé Expert Gel saddle.

Technical Specifications

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FRAMESET

FRAME

Specialized Tarmac SL6, FACT 10r carbon, Rider-First Engineered™, OSBB, clean routing, internally integrated seat clamp, 130mm rear spacing

SEAT BINDER

Tarmac SL6 clamp assembly

FORK

S-Works FACT carbon

WHEELS

REAR WHEEL

Roval SLX 24 Rims, DT Swiss 350 hubs, DT Swiss Competition spokes, 24h

FRONT WHEEL

Roval SLX 24 Rims, DT Swiss 350 hubs, DT Swiss Competition spokes, 20h

REAR TIRE

S-Works Turbo, 120 TPI, folding bead, BlackBelt protection, 700x26mm

INNER TUBES

66mm alloy tubeless valve 

FRONT TIRE

S-Works Turbo, 120 TPI, folding bead, BlackBelt protection, 700x26mm

DRIVETRAIN

FRONT DERAILLEUR

Shimano Ultegra 8000, braze-on

CHAIN

Shimano Ultegra, 11-speed

CASSETTE

Shimano Ultegra 8000,11-speed, 11-30t

SHIFT LEVERS

Shimano Ultegra 8000, 11-speed

REAR DERAILLEUR

Shimano Ultegra 8000, 11-speed

BOTTOM BRACKET

Praxis BB30 w/ Shimano conversion adaptor

CHAINRINGS

52/36T

CRANKSET

Shimano Ultegra R8000

COCKPIT

STEM

Specialized Pro SL, alloy, 4-bolt

SEATPOST

S-Works FACT Carbon Tarmac seatpost, 20mm offset

TAPE

S-Wrap w/ Sticky gel

SADDLE

Toupe Expert Gel, 143mm, hollow titanium rails, Adaptive Edge

HANDLEBARS

Specialized Expert Shallow Drop, alloy, 123x75mm

ACCESSORIES

PEDALS

Nylon, 105x78x28mm, loose balls w/ reflectors

BRAKES

REAR BRAKE

Shimano Ultegra 8010 direct mount

FRONT BRAKE

Shimano Ultegra 8010 direct mount

* Weights based on production painted frames as pictured. Actual weights will vary based on colourway, frame size, and component variation. Specifications are subject to change without notice.

Geometry

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495254565861
Crank Length170mm170mm172.5mm172.5mm175mm175mm
Handlebar Width400mm420mm420mm420mm440mm440mm
Stem Length80mm90mm100mm100mm110mm110mm
Saddle Width143mm143mm143mm143mm143mm143mm
Seatpost Length320mm320mm380mm380mm380mm380mm
Stack514mm527mm544mm565mm591mm612mm
Reach375mm380mm384mm395mm402mm408mm
Head Tube Length115mm126mm143mm163mm190mm210mm
Head Tube Angle71.75°72.5°73°73.5°73.5°74°
BB Height266mm266mm268mm268mm268mm268mm
BB Drop74mm74mm72mm72mm72mm72mm
Trail63mm58mm58mm55mm55mm52mm
Fork Length, Full363mm363mm363mm363mm363mm363mm
Fork Rake/Offset47mm47mm44mm44mm44mm44mm
Front Center574mm577mm579mm591mm606mm613mm
Chainstay Length405mm405mm405mm405mm407mm410mm
Wheelbase968mm970mm973mm985mm1002mm1012mm
Top Tube Length, Horizontal508mm531mm540mm562mm577mm595mm
Bike Standover Height740mm755mm775mm795mm826mm850mm
Seat Tube Length431mm462mm481mm501mm522mm553mm
Seat Tube Angle75.5°74°74°73.5°73.5°73°
Geometry

Rider Reviews

  • 4.8
  • 4 Reviews

Love this bike, fast, comfy and looks the business

Specialized bikes have a reputation for being excellent but generally overpriced compared to similar spec'd bikes on the market. Same can be said for cars, TV's etc., with regards doing a job getting from AtoB or watching a 4k film; however premium brands should deliver a better experience overall. That said, reviews for this bike were glowing with the only negative the price compared to others but if you can afford it/are prepared to pay for it you won't be disappointed. Anyhow with a whopping 35% discount this bike is a no brainer, all the specifications you want and very little, if any compromises for most folk. Latest SL6 frameset (tick), full Ultegra groupset (tick), Roval wheels (tick), direct mount brakes (tick). It is all the latest and greatest of non-electronic, non-disc brake bicycle loveliness. Personally I would go disc brake in a heartbeat, but I own a pair or Hunt carbon rim brake wheels which I'm not prepared to give up on just yet. I also swapped out the bars and stem as I already had the s-works sl stem and carbon bars. Job done. How does it ride, well, in a word beautifully. Completed a tough 80 mile/1800m elevation ride on Easter Monday and although my legs had given up I was supremely comfortable on the Toupe gel saddle and the overall ride is sublime. I love it. Coming from a Trek Emonda SL6 (which had the Hunt wheels and bar/stem combo) it feels a much more accomplished ride. Hard to pinpoint exactly but it just lets you ride and then want to ride some more until your legs give up as mine did the other week. Seriously, buy one, ride it, love it, upgrade bits if that's your thing but don't miss out on this price...


Name:
Wottee

Helpful?

Outstanding bike

I have close to 1k on it now.... switched out the crankset for a 50/34 compact.. bike has been bulletproof ... with gatorskins and bottle cages she weighs out at 17 lbs ... handles phenomenal, breaks well and is very comfortabl... the acid mint color is very unique. The bike is an outstanding climber ... very please


Name:
Monovasia

Helpful?

Lively and very solid bike

Rode about 700 miles on a black/pink SL6 Expert, mostly climbing in hills. This is an excellent bike out of the box, the parts which look good in specs are even better in action, especially the Ultegra drivetrain and the breaks. The wheels are lively and pretty good when climbing. The tires are a bit dull however this doesn't impact their performance, and they really shine on steep sections when the grip becomes apparent; besides there was not a single flat. The frame, seatpost and the saddle are incredibly comfortable, the quality of the ride is impeccable. The bike is really a pleasure to ride. During the first rides I discovered that my heels are hitting the chainstays and the left crank, which was never the case on my previous bike (44 or 10.5 foot size). Apparently the Ultegra crank is pretty tight in this respect, so some adjustment to cleat positions was done, I mostly got used to it after few weeks. The only noticeable problem is unfortunately the bottom bracket. The frame is OSBB, so it has a Praxis adapter for the Ultegra cranks. From the performance point of few there is no complains, as I've said, the drivetrain in action is amazing. However, the adapter starts to creak under a load, which I give plenty in the hills. Even if I am mostly indifferent to creaking, it may indicate a mechanical problem lurking somewhere in this interface. Besides, it turned out that the adapter came dry, there was no grease or anti-seize that is required for its installation. Applying a retaining compound eliminates the creaking completely, however with the kind of riding I do it comes back after 200-300 miles. Which is sad since the cranks and chainrings are just fantastic and I don't see me changing them to any BB30 just in order to simplify the BB interface. Still, this bike appeals to me like nothing before, it is very solid and integral, and the ride is very right for me.


Name:
Artem M.

Helpful?