2018 Specialized Tarmac Expert SL6 Ultegra Mens Road Bike - Flo Red

The 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 if you're facing training challenges and local rides, the new Tarmac Expert is the one to try and beat.

To get the weight around 950 grams, advanced aerospace composite optimisation software has been utilised to revolutionise the construction and layup of the new FACT 10r 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.

Rider-First Engineered™ technology has been improved to ensure that the new Tarmac is stiff and compliant in exactly the right places. With this revamp, the geometry has also been updated, basing it on countless Retül data points and professional rider input. This helped 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 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 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.

While 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 “aero coudl be added 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 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, fastest S-Works Turbo 26mm tyres, and a sublime Toupé Expert Gel saddle.

• The FACT 10r carbon frame combines the lightweight performance and compliance of top-end carbon production methods with 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.
• 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.
• The 11-speed Shimano Ultegra 8000 shifting is extremely reliable, lightweight, and precise.