SPECIALIZED TARMAC SL6 COMP DISC £2900

THE RACING LEGEND UNLEASHED

Specialized’s approach to the SL6 design process was somewhat conflicted: it wanted a lighter bike, that was stiffer and more comfortable, but it didn’t want to change the handling or ride position. So, the chassis retains parallel steep 73.5° angles and a low stack (591mm on our 58cm test bike), keeps the long reach (402mm), and the wheelbase creeps up to just 2mm over a metre.

Instead of the topof-the-line 12r carbon you’ll find on the S-Works and Sagan edition bikes, the Comp has a 9r carbon frame and a 10r carbon fork, which adds 100g or so to the frame, and a smattering to the fork.

Component wise Specialized has compiled a decent mix. It’s good to see a complete Shimano Ultegra groupset (including Ultegra cassette and Ice-Tech rotors) and the 52/36 and 11-30 cassette gearing favours speed merchants.

In recent years, Specialized has relied more on its in-house wheel brand, Roval, so it was a bit of a surprise to find DT Swiss’s competent, if unremarkable, R470DB hoops here. The Turbo tyres are excellent, though, with supple casing and impressive grip in the wet.

On the road, the SL6 has all of the familiar Tarmac traits: huge pick-up from hard pedal efforts, and neck-snappingly fast reactions to steering inputs. What does impress is just how well it copes with poor road surfaces. Aided by those 26mm Turbo tyres, it smooths out gritty, shitty, rough-edged tarmac. The back end’s dropped stays and premium S-Works carbon seatpost meld to make a beautifully compliant ride. The front end, with its allalloy cockpit, does reach its comfort threshold faster, but we’d never describe the ride as harsh or hard.

Overall, the Tarmac Comp stacks up as a great bike. At £2900, it’s about on the money for an Ultegra-equipped machine. For a similar outlay, you can find a few bikes out there with a smattering of higher value parts (Giant TCR Advanced Pro 1 Disc, Ribble Endurance SL, Fuji SL2.3) but not many can match the Tarmac’s combination of ride quality and handling prowess.