The previous Tarmac had an exceptional palmarès - a win in every Grand Tour, plus two World Championships - so you might ask yourself, "why a new Tarmac?" Well, Specialized have never rested on their laurels and are constantly hunting for even the smallest of improvements. In other words, innovate or die. For this exact reason, the new S-Works Tarmac breaks all the traditions of race bike design to create the fastest bike for all conditions.
To get the weight below 800 grams, advanced aerospace composite optimisation software was utilised to revolutionise the construction and layup of the new FACT 12r carbon. It's the most advanced material and schedule - the shape, schedule, and material optimisation shed nearly 200 grams. That's right, a 20% reduction in frame weight - the perfect recipe for your next hill climb PR. The S-Works Tarmac Ultralight also uses a newly developed paint finish that further reduces weight. In combination with an improved preparation process, it achieves a paint job that has the same weight as nine gummy bears, or 10 grams.
The Rider-First Engineered™ technology was further optimised to ensure that the new Tarmac is stiff and compliant in exactly the right places. With this revamp, the geometry was also updated, basing it on countless Retül data points and professional rider input. This developed a performance road geometry that perfects the combination of a responsive front end and short wheelbase, delivering instantaneous response and optimal power transfer. While stiffness aids in the aforementioned, compliance must also be utilised for an optimal ride quality. That's why Specialized designed a seatpost that builds compliance into the upper 120mm where clamping doesn't happen, dropped the seatstays, and altered the seat tube shape. Tyre clearance up to 30mm was also added, which translates to a 28mm Turbo Cotton on a Roval CLX 50 wheel. 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 thank Specialized on your next long ride.
Whilst this is all great, aerodynamics are the most important thing to make you faster. Both the 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 they 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 this could be done - 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 S-Works Tarmac comes ready to race with Shimano's new Dura-Ace 9150 Di2 groupset with direct mount brakes, and the lightweight, yet impressively aerodynamic, Roval CLX 50s with 26mm Turbo Cotton tyres.
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Featuring a Rider-First Engineered™ design that ensures every frame size has the same legendary climbing responsiveness and descending prowess you'd expect from a Tarmac. The S-Works FACT 12r frameset is the highest quality carbon frame, offering the ideal blend of light overall weight and targeted stiffness.
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S-Works full FACT carbon fork with a tapered construction provides incredible front end stiffness and steering response for instantaneous accelerations and high-speed descents.