2018 Specialized Tarmac Pro Mens Road Bike - Chameleon

If you're obsessed with marginal gains and have the wallet to back it up, you will love the S-Works but if you're obsessed with phenomenal performance but have a racer's budget look no further than the new Tarmac Pro with Shimano Ultegra Di2.

To get the weight around 950 grams, advanced aerospace composite optimisation software was utilised to revolutionise the construction and layup of Specialized's new FACT 10r carbon. It's the most advanced material and schedule they've ever made - 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.

Rider-First Engineered™ technology was further improved 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 enabled Specialized 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.

While stiffness aids in the aforementioned, compliance must also be utilised for an optimal ride quality. That's why they 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 CL 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 thanks Specialized on your next long ride.

While this is all great, aerodynamics are the most important thing to make you faster. Both 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.

The Tarmac Pro comes spec’d with Shimano’s new Ultegra 8150 Di2 groupset with direct mount brakes and the affordable, yet impressively aerodynamic Roval CL 50 wheelset with 26mm S-Works Turbo tyres.