Ex-Demo: S-Works Tarmac SL6 Womens Road Bike - 49cm

As this is not a brand new bike, it may not feature the full original technical specification and is subject to change.

Sprint, climb and chase with power, comfort and speed.

When you're chasing someone down on a climb, you want to be able to respond comfortably and quickly. When you're putting the cat among the pigeons, however, you want to be able to spring a snappy acceleration on your opponents and leave them in a panic. The Women's S-Works Tarmac SL6 with Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 is there to help you race any way you like, sitting at the top of the women's race tree in all aspects of performance and panache.

The frame weight was brought down to just a shade under 800g by completely re-engineering the new FACT 12r carbon using advanced aerospace composite optimisation software. It is the most advanced material and schedule Specialized have ever put together. These adjustments reduce the weight by 200g or 20% making it the perfect steed to set new PBs on any uphill segments you might have your eye on.

By using the thousands of Retul data points available to Specialized, as well as detailed input from an extensive list of top professional riders, the Tarmac's geometry has been further improved for 2018. Newly improved Rider-First Engineered technology means a Tarmac that's stiff in all the right places without compromising that all-important compliance elsewhere. It means an ideal combination of snappy front end with a short wheelbase for perfect power transfer and precision handling.

Of course, stiffness isn't the whole story. The compliance built into the frame (and the top part of the seatpost), plus the newly shaped and dropped seat stays, mean you get a fast bike that rides easy, without leaving you with a crooked spine or sore joints.

Tyre clearance has also been increased to 30mm which, as a for-instance, will let you run a set of Roval CLX 50 wheels with 28mm Turbo Cotton tyres. By doing this, you can run bigger tyres at a lower tyre pressure for increased traction, more comfort and lower rolling resistance. Added up, this gives you a Tarmac that remains a true racing machine that takes some of the sting out of road imperfections. Ride it 100 miles, then thank Specialized.

All this is fine and good, but Specialized know the best way to make you faster is to improve aerodynamics. Specialized pro riders on Boels-Dolmans are always hassling them to give them aero improvements on every bike, and they're only to happy to rise to the challenge.

For the 2018 Tarmac range, Specialized set out to find ways of adding aero improvements for free without taking away the best bits of what makes the Tarmac what it is. In six months they found three key areas to do so, with a new fork shape, a D-shaped seat post and seat tube, and then dropped seat stays with a new aero profile. The end result should speed you up by 45 seconds over 40km, compared with other lightweight bikes in this category. Exactly what you want when attacking off the front of the race.

Roval CLX 50 hoops with 26mm Turbo Cotton Tyres and touch points specifically for female riders (bar width and saddle, to crank length) complete the awesomeness of this race bike.

• 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 top-performance race bike. The S-Works FACT 12r frameset is the highest quality carbon frame, offering the ideal blend of light overall weight and targeted stiffness.
• S-Works-specific FACT full carbon fork with tapered construction provides incredible front end stiffness and steering response for instantaneous accelerations and high-speed descents.
• A 52/36T S-Works carbon fibre crankset offers the ultimate in power transfer, with a chainring grouping that's equally suited to big alpine climbs as it is to throwing down the gauntlet on the flats.