2018 Roubaix Elite

The idea of a perfect road is a myth, as there's always a chip, a crack, a rough patch—you name it. But with our Roubaix Elite, you'll be taming wild asphalt without any extra effort. This is how road bikes were always meant to be.

The super-light frame has been constructed from our FACT 10r carbon fiber. Its stiffness levels are also off the charts, and compared to the SL4 iteration of yesteryear, you'll experience a whole new, faster, and more efficient geometry. Through some engineering sorcery, however, we've managed to keep the same fit, feel, and position that we've all come to love from the SL4, and kept it consistent throughout the size-range due to our Rider-First Engineered™ construction.

Of course, you're probably thinking, "get on to the suspension thing up front." We call it Future Shock, and essentially, it's a piston in the head tube with 20mm of travel. We developed this technology in partnership with McLaren Applied Technologies, and the result of this are a host of drastic performance improvements, namely in the vertical compliance department. Without giving a physics lecture, we found that focusing on vertical compliance, instead of fork splay, meant that we could improve smoothness, speed, and comfort in one fell swoop. And of all the bikes that we've tested with our Rolling Efficiency Model, the new Roubaix outperforms anything on the market.

Lastly, we spec'd the Roubaix Elite with 105 11-speed mechanical shifting, RS hydraulic disc brakes, and DT R470 Disc wheels that have been cased in our Turbo Pro 28mm tires.

• Featuring our Rider-First Engineered™ design that ensures every frame size has the same legendary responsiveness and smooth ride quality that you'd expect from a Roubaix. The FACT 10r frameset holds its own with our high-end carbon offerings, with the ideal blend of light overall weight and targeted stiffness, while the all-new Future Shock "suspension" system at the cockpit delivers a revolutionary degree of comfort and control.

• A Roubaix Disc fork is built from our FACT carbon fiber for supreme stiffness, strength, and reactivity, while a thru-axle design only stands to bolster all of the above.

• Shimano 105 shifting gives you crisp, precise, and reliable shifts. The system is renowned for its durability, performing in adverse conditions with the batting an eyelash…if shifters had eyelashes, that is.