The kind folk at the big S took the bike back, replaced the Future Shock, and returned it to me as though I wasn’t some sort of undeserving moron. For a long time Matthew's heart belonged to the Scott Addict, but he's currently enjoying Specialized's sublime Roubaix Expert and having a torrid affair with a Giant Trance e-MTB. I ride a lot of different bikes in my job and it’s been a delight to bond with one properly for a change. The Mon Chasserals are roughly 300g lighter than the Rovals at an actual 1,262g, but they’re also quite a bit shallower at just 24mm deep (vs. 38mm), and narrower at 18mm internal. 17 minutes and 49 seconds of a malnourished street urchin waving his arms around in the woods. We stock a huge range of Specialized Bikes available with finance and free UK delivery. I finally did such a ride on the Roubaix, heading west from the Forest of Dean to Abergavenny before turning south. For general riding, I’ve been very happy to leave the shock’s adjuster in the fully ‘open’ position, which gives me the most squish. What else? I genuinely think the Roubaix is an exceptional bike and I’m going to miss it terribly when it goes back. If you’re considering dropping over five grand on a bicycle, you might well be wondering about long-term costs. You might want to grab 3M clear bra tape and put some on the downtube, behind the seat tube, around the top underside of the fork to prevent chips to your paint, also ziptie a bunch of zipties on the driveside chainstay behind your chainrings so if the chain gets all muddy and chainsuck drags it into the chainstay you don’t cry and throw up (you can gouge the hell out of a carbon frame pretty easily if you put power down when shifting the chainring and wedge the chain up between the chainring and chainstay, especially if there’s no sort of metal plate back behind the chainring to soak up this kind of damage). cycling, Press J to jump to the feed. The Specialized S-Works Roubaix is a comfortable and sporty platform that will suit everyone from beginners to pros. I’m starting to wish my other bikes had a Future Shock, Specialized Roubaix Expert long-term review, GBP £5,400.00 RRP This sumptuous paint job is called, take a deep breath now, Gloss Crimson – Cast Berry Edge Fade/Dove Grey/Black. One thing the Roubaix can’t do is defy physics. Having now ridden them a fair bit, my subjective impression is that the narrower tyres are slightly less comfortable on our terrible roads, but not noticeably faster. The Roubaix Expert has opened my eyes to the possibilities suspension on road bikes offers, and also helped evolve my attitude to endurance, all-road and gravel bikes. I was wondering if upgrading to 32mm tires would make it serve well as a gravel bike or if there are any other limitations I am not seeing (except for even wider tires). Cruising along over rippled tarmac, its action is imperceptible, but if you look down you can see the rubber sheath flexing continuously as the shock compresses and extends minute amounts. The chart below provides a general suggested height of range for Road Bike sizes and is not exact. The third iteration of Specialized’s modern-day gravel bike arrives with a plentiful line-up to prove The … The rest of us (myself included) are likely to be satisfied by a non-adjustable one – the adjustment falls into the category of ‘nice to have’ but not essential, and it’s perfectly feasible to ride all of the time with the shock fully open. Possibly an acquired taste. Specialized has overhauled the Diverge for 2021. [indicates self]. Specialized S-Works Roubaix. |, Future Shock works beautifully and ride quality is perfectly balanced front to rear; big spec; lovely paint job, There’s no ignoring the price; cable routing at the bar could be neater; the Future Shock adjuster is surprisingly easy to break (if you’re an idiot like me); 2021 model is arguably less good value. The latest model uses Specialized’s Future Shock 2.0 front suspension and, in 2020 Expert spec, it offers a full Shimano Ultegra Di2 groupset and some top-notch components. I’ve been hugely impressed with the system on the Roubaix, but there are some caveats to my praise. I’ve had no issues whatsoever with the Roval C 38 wheels the Roubaix comes with. Into the Ardèche; Turn Left to Saint-Vincent-de-Durfort; Big Views in the Ardèche; The 2020 Specialized Roubaix; FLANDERS CLASSICS 2020. bicycling New comments cannot be posted and votes cannot be cast, Discussion of everything bicycle related. At this point, I feel like I should say something critical about the Roubaix but I’m struggling. , but I’ve missed the extra comfort offered by the fatter Contis. A Diverge with slightly more road-oriented tyres might be exactly that. One thing the Roubaix can’t do is defy physics. Specialized launched the Roubaix with the tagline “smoother is faster” and I’m inclined to agree. With its blend of comfort and speed, I can’t think of a bike better suited to days like this than the Roubaix. As it happens, this stem is one that works with 1 1/4in steerers but comes with a shim of its own to fit 1 1/8in, so I’m now running a double-shimmed setup, which is almost certainly not something any manufacturer would endorse. Specialized Roubaix in review. I’ve long been intrigued by its unique suspension system, sceptical that it could really be justified on a bike that’s meant only for the road. Just to add to these great points, gravel can mean all sorts of different things, from a hard packed dirt road to large and really lose stuff to muddy single track. The Specialized Roubaix has been a benchmark for endurance bikes since it first appeared in the mid-2000s. I discovered, using the power of stupidity, that it doesn’t take a lot of force to damage the Future Shock adjuster. I’ve been riding the Roubaix for almost a year and it’s fair to say it’s got under my skin. And with so many riders turning to gravel, Specialized grew the Diverge to 11 models priced from $1,100 to $10,000. Specialized Roubaix as gravel bike ? After clambering through the branches of a tree that had blocked both the canal and the path, I stupidly decided to get on the road for a change of scene, and spent a very unpleasant half-hour or so riding on a dual carriageway down to Cwmbran (. Specialized Roubaix. The Roubaix is the comfier, less racy alternative to the Tarmac, although Specialized does also offer a Team version of the S-Works Roubaix frame with more aggressive geometry. bicycles If you could map the controls to the extra buttons on Shimano Di2 levers you’d be able to adjust the shock without taking your hands off the levers. OMLOOP HET NIEUWSBLAD; GHENT-WEVELGEM IN FLANDERS FIELDS; Wahoo KICKR BIKE. The Paris–Roubaix is famous for rough terrain and cobblestones, or pavé (), being, with the Tour of Flanders, E3 Harelbeke and Gent–Wevelgem, one of the cobbled classics.It has been called the Hell of the North, a Sunday in Hell (also the title of a film about the 1976 race), the Queen of the Classics or la Pascale: the Easter race. The Specialized Roubaix has been a benchmark for endurance bikes since it first appeared in the mid-2000s. QR PR5 tri bike and a Roubaix road/gravel bike. Our review. Matthew Loveridge (formerly Allen) is an experienced mechanic and an expert on bike tech who appreciates practical, beautifully-engineered things. You can lock out most of the movement by cranking the adjuster right down, which noticeably sharpens up the front end. This led to the battery dying at around 25km from home on a recent ride, to my immense frustration. bikes At the start of the year, every member of the BikeRadar team selects a long-term test bike to ride over the course of the following 12 months. I don’t say this lightly, but the Roubaix Expert is an outstanding bike, one that’s opened my eyes to all kinds of riding possibilities and that I’ve enjoyed immensely. It works fine for me at the lighter end of the spectrum, but I do wonder if really heavy riders might benefit from a stiffer spring – perhaps Specialized might add interchangeable springs to the 2.0 as well? The carbon wheels are from in-house brand Roval. Specialized provided me with a shim that adapts the skinny Future Shock steerer to work with a standard 1 1/8in stem, so I duly went rummaging in my box of stems and dug out a 110mm Syntace of unknown provenance to give the Roubaix an extra 10mm of reach. There are countless “white road” and “Roubaix” type classic rides here in the States, including yesterday’s Boulder-Roubaix, Michigan’s Barry Roubaix, the upcoming Paris-to-Ancaster, the Amish Country Roubaix, Hilly Billy Roubaix and the list goes on. What really surprised me was how well it behaved on descents. ?than they would otherwise be. , but have since swapped these for a more authentically Roubaix-esque set of, My first rides on the Roubaix took place on holiday in Tuscany, home to those iconic white roads, the. I have the 2020 model with 35 mm tires on it, love it! The Roubaix’s USP is the Future Shock 2.0, an adjustable coil suspension cartridge housed in the fork steerer that offers 20mm of hydraulically-damped travel, allowing the cockpit to move up and down relative to the frame and fork. You’ll want more than a couple millimeters because the moment you hit a puddle your tire will become a lot wider with all the dirt caked onto it. When you consider how expensive carbon rims are, the new bike is arguably worse value despite being cheaper, but I wouldn’t let that put you off. The most recent edition was held on 14 April 2019. The Specialized Power isn’t half bad, but I’m still on lifelong quest for, I’ve had no issues whatsoever with the Roval C 38 wheels the Roubaix comes with. Initially a do-it-all endurance road bike, the Specialized Diverge has evolved to sit more comfortably in the rapidly popularised adventure road/gravel bike category. With the adjustable Future Shock 2.0, you can’t change springs, while the Future Shock 1.5 (which Specialized calls “non damped”) found on cheaper models has no adjuster, but comes with a choice of three springs. As a result, I had to make do with a not-so-high gear of 34/15 for the remainder of my ride. With rack mounts & big tires, you'll find the road less traveled is calling your name. Do wheels like this make any kind of sense? It was suggested that the FACT 10R frame might be in the region of 50g heavier, but I wouldn’t take that as gospel. I have a 2013 Specialized Roubaix SL4 that i had used mainly for road however I'm started to see myself doing slightly more unpaved roads/more like gravel than full out mountain bike trails. The 2.0 unit doesn’t have interchangeable springs and so it can’t be tuned to different rider weights beyond adjusting the damping via the knob. I thought that was nice of them. I’m curious to see where Specialized will take the Future Shock concept next. Thanks! Okay, the cable routing up front could be neater and the steerer is an odd size so normal stems aren’t a straight swap. Fortunately, it was my pride that suffered the most damage, with one shifter sustaining some scratches and a bit of scuffing to the bar tape. The Specialized Roubaix in detail: Future Shock 2.0 and other highlights The predecessor of the 2020 Roubaix already featured Specialized’s so-called Future Shock system. Di2 is also designed to prevent extreme cross chaining, meaning you can’t use the two smallest cogs on the cassette when you’re on the smaller chainring. The Pro Ones handle light gravel just fine, but their narrower width naturally means they feel a little bit sketchier. When a Di2 battery drops below 10 per cent, you lose front shifting first, and the system left me in the 34t little ring. thanks kindly. You've been subscribed to our newsletter. Specialized Roubaix 2017 review. I’ve taken my Bianchi Infinito on gravel with 32mm Donnelly Xplor MSOs and it was fun but I’d rather be on my gravel bike with a slightly more stable geometry and slightly wider tires, but it’s fun once in a while. What weighs 1,262g and costs as much as a decent mid level carbon race bike? By using our Services or clicking I agree, you agree to our use of cookies. They’re also almost criminally expensive at £2,649.99 / €2,948 / $3,734. A Real-Ride Feel; KICKR BIKE Reality Shift; Gravel Mob. Thanks a lot for your very detailled input, much appreciated. Also, the 21mm internal width is a great match for the 28 and 32mm tyres I’ve been running, giving a really nice round profile and, with the smaller size, a pretty smooth rim-to-tyre transition. I’m a fan of gravel bikes in general, however for the riding I do, I feel like many of them lean too heavily towards trying to be a mountain bike with drop bars and, as a result, they’re just too compromised for the road. for example, but the Roubaix would still be a great bike with a cheaper mechanical groupset. Like the Roubaix… My first rides on the Roubaix took place on holiday in Tuscany, home to those iconic white roads, the strade bianche. In other respects, there’s nothing terribly notable about the bike’s geometry, although it’s worth pointing out that, because the Future Shock suspends the bars rather than the whole front end of the bike (as on a mountain bike), the overall geometry remains the same regardless of how high you are in the shock’s travel. The latter dimension matters because it makes them less well suited to wider tyres than the Rovals. Some weeks (months?) Granted I had a medium Future Shock spring in the Roubaix during New Zealand and I was running a 25 mm tyre on the front and the 30 mm tyre on rear during many of the initial gravel sections on the North Island. They're very fit but almost comically expensive compared to an equivalent alloy set, and it's not like they can claim to be aero either. Maybe the wheel goes a little out of true. Buy Specialized Bikes online at Hargroves Cycles. Given that, I can’t help thinking a simple two-position switch would make more sense. In this scenario, you’re cranking hard from side to side, and the extra movement of the shock can make the front of the bike feel slightly more wayward. The one time the movement is perhaps counterproductive is when you’re really pushing hard, for example sprinting out of the saddle with your hands on the drops. The @iamspecialized Roubaix Expert is back on squishy @contityres GP5000 TLs and it feels good. I suppose that would be 32 in slicks. Ultegra Di2 is lovely to have for example, but the Roubaix would still be a great bike with a cheaper mechanical groupset. My cycling New Year’s resolution was to attempt some multimodal rides, by which I mean ones that take me somewhere else rather than ending where they started, relying on trains to get me home. The limiting factor for me on long rides lately has been saddle comfort, which has more to do with my own awkward physiology than any fault of the bike. Roubaix (2004-2007) The Specialized Roubaix debuted in 2004, and it has come to define the modern endurance bike genre. Gravel. |, USD $6,000.00 ???????????????? Even more upsettingly, it looks kind of terrible because of the awkward transition this creates from the Future Shock adjuster knob to the stem, but so be it. By entering your details, you are agreeing to BikeRadar terms and conditions and privacy policy. You’ll find a review of the … So are these wheels an upgrade or a downgrade? You can unsubscribe at any time. |, EUR €5,999.00 The bike officially accepts rubber up to 33mm wide and there was a 32mm set of Continental’s new Grand Prix 5000 tubeless tyres kicking around the office, so it seemed rude not to take advantage. If the gravel smooths out or there is a section of tarmac, on the fly adjustment lets you tune your ride from near-rigid to fully open. The current Roubaix Expert is £400 cheaper than my version at £5,000, but it drops the carbon wheels in favour of alloy ones. The Roubaix Comp Ultegra Di2 is Specialized's definition of the all-round race bike, taking the aero advantages and positive handling of its Tarmac while adding the damping effect of the Future Shock to allow you to maintain a high pace even over the roughest of roads. I tried to pin down Specialized on the difference between the top-level and second-tier frames but the brand is intentionally vague on the subject, saying that the key thing is they ride the same as one another. So is it possible to convert my Roubaix to a gravel bike? A few days into the Tuscany trip, my girlfriend and I rode the short route of the Eroica vintage sportive, taking in some stunning views and lots of gravel and dirt roads. The nice thing about running tubeless is that I’ve got a huge amount of latitude when it comes to pressures. Of course, gravel hasn’t gone that far down the rabbit hole yet, but the Diverge has taken inspiration from the Specialized Epic cross country bike. I’ve been thinking hard about whether a Future Shock style design is a solution for all road bikes. Hi, My Specialized Roubaix (2019 Comp Ultegra Di2) has a tire clearance of 32mm and it also has the future shock suspension. Thanks to the simple adjustability, you can set the damping to the maximum, which makes the front of the bike feel like any other when pedalling out of the saddle. Find your next adventure with our Adventure and Touring bikes. It's easier to put on some road tyres and make it serve as a road bike when needed. but I lived in terror of it disintegrating on the road, and had to give in and write a grovelling email to Specialized UK explaining what I’d done. The flat mount rear caliper nestles in the rear triangle. I run 38s on my diverge and it can get squirrelly on dirt roads made of something other than compacted dirt and gravel, 32s might work but you’d want to go tubeless so you can run the psi pretty low. This will also look pro as hell, which is obviously what matters most. Newer updates appear first. La nuova Specialized Roubaix possiede la speciale tecnologia Future Shock 2.0, una cartuccia che gestisce l’assorbimento delle vibrazioni, regalando maggiore controllo anche sulle strade dissestate e sul pavè.Questa bicicletta ha vinto infatti ben sette Parigi-Roubaix. Breaking the Future Shock (see below) was a definite low point, and that was completely my fault. As a model-year note, Specialized did not make a new Roubaix Pro for 2019 even though one is listed on its site; that model is a 2018 carryover. that need testing, so I’ve put these on for now. I’d originally planned to ride further west into the Brecon Beacons, but I cleverly chose to do this ride on an exceptionally windy day (there have been a lot of these lately), with the breeze against me for the whole of my A to B ride, and neither the legs nor the enthusiasm were there. Despite leaving the Future Shock in the fully open position to do this, the bike felt wonderfully composed, with brake dive controlled enough not to be unsettling, and no hard bottoming-out. This means that it’s not just the visible part of the post that can deflect, it’s actually anchored 65mm below the top of the seat tube.