Ex-Media Bike: 2017 Specialized Allez DSW SL Sprint Expert Green: 56cm

The Allez DSW SL Sprint Expert is one of the most advanced alloy road bikes we've ever made designed with the singular focus of being a reliable crit-racing weapon. At the heart of it is our DSW Sprint Technology which strategically places more welding material where it's needed resulting in an aluminium bike that's more compliant and considerably stiffer. How stiff exactly? It's the stiffest alloy bike we've ever tested. Drawing inspiration from the Rider-First Engineered Tarmac this frame has a unique down tube bottom bracket shell and head tube plus fork sizes that correspond to frame size. This ensures uniform performance across the entyre size run. Making sure every single watt you produce gets transferred to the road it has short chainstays that create an extremely stiff and rigid rear triangle. But it goes beyond just pure rigidity as the hydroformed tube shapes have also been aerodynamically optimized to slice through the wind.For the build we spec'd it with an awesome mix of Shimano Ultegra and 105 for the shifting. As for the rest you can expect a stiff Praxis crankset and fast-rolling Axis Elite alloy wheels.

• E5 Premium aluminium frame with Allez D'Aluisio Smartweld Technology refocuses weld locations, allowing for more material to be placed where it's needed for increased stiffness and compliance where you really need it.
• Our top-tier S-Works FACT carbon fibre fork provides incredible stiffness and front end steering response, while also efficiently absorbing road chatter.
• The Praxis Zayante crankset is an incredibly stiff and light crankset with supreme ramping for precise shifts between the rings.