2021 Specialized Tarmac SL7 Pro SRAM Force eTap AXS 1X Road Bike

The new Tarmac offers the perfect combination of aerodynamics, light weight, and ride quality to deliver the ride of your life. From using the FreeFoil Shape Library to find the best tube shapes, to developing the next generation of Rider-First Engineered™ design, the new Tarmac is the culmination of Specialized's ever-longing pursuit of speed. It's a pure-bred race machine with no compromises. One bike to rule them all.

The all-new Tarmac Pro delivers the perfect blend of performance and value. A full SRAM Force eTap AXS 1x groupset aids aero performance, while delivering a gear range that provides plenty of range for most rides, a 46t chainring with a 10-36 cassette. Add in Roval's new Rapide CL, with their exceptional stability and aerodynamic prowess, and the Tarmac Pro with SRAM eTap is perfect for crit racing, smashing the group ride, or piloting you to that next PR.

Specialized have been preaching that aero is everything for years which is still the driving force behind the new Tarmac. In their quest for tube shapes that deliver the fastest frame that the UCI rules allow, Specialized took a page out of the Venge development book and utilised their FreeFoil Shape Library. Armed with a library of optimised shapes, they turned to the Win Tunnel to plug these shapes into a modular test bike, for more testing and validation. The result is a new Tarmac that’s the fastest they’ve tested, and 45 seconds faster over 40km than the Tarmac SL6. No compromises, just pure speed.

While aerodynamics were paramount to the Tarmac’s development, and all of Specialized's race bikes, weight was also crucial on this optimal race bike journey. Previously “aero bikes” always compromised in the weight department where the more drag you reduced, the more weight you gained. With the new Tarmac, the design philosophy was to keep it at, or below, the UCI weight limit out of the box, with no sacrifices to aerodynamics. With the help of the FreeFoil Shape Library, tools like isotopic FEA analysis, and some engineering wizardry by the best engineers in the industry, a frame was delivered that weighs a mere 920g, without giving up a gram of aero, stiffness or ride quality.

To develop the perfect race bike, the Rider-First Engineered™ philosophy was used to ensure that the new Tarmac is the most balanced, best handling Tarmac yet, no matter the size. With an army of the world’s best test riders from three World Tour Teams, including Boels-Dolmans, Deceuninck-Quick-Step, and Bora-hansgrohe, changes were made to the Tarmac based on their thousands of kms on the road. The ride quality was balanced between the front and rear end, so even the longest days in the saddle continue to be comfortable, all without giving up the Tarmac’s legendary handling and race-winning snappiness.

Building on the learnings from the Venge, the new Tarmac utilises simple integration to create a clean, fast cockpit that’s easy to live with. The routing has been improved for any configuration (mechanical shifting, traditional stems, round bars, etc.) all while keeping its aerodynamic attributes. These same traits also make the new Tarmac easy to work on and easy to travel with. It’s a win-win.