SPECIALIZED ROUBAIX PRO Di2
The entirely reworked mile-muncher from the Big S
MODEL: Specialized Roubaix Pro Di2 FRAME: Roubaix Future Shock, thru-axle FORK: Roubaix disc, thru-axle GROUPSET: Shimano Ultegra Di2 6870 SHIFTERS: Shimano R785 Di2 hydraulic BRAKES: Shimano RS805 hydraulic disc CHAINSET: Specialized Pro 50/34t, carbon CASSETTE: Shimano Ultegra 11-32t WHEELS: Roval CL 32 Disc, carbon, tubeless TYRES: Specialized Turbo Pro 26mm HANDLEBARS: S-works Hover Carbon STEM: S-works SL, alloy SEATPOST: Specialized CG-R, carbon SADDLE: Specialized Phenom Expert GT, titanium rails WEIGHT: 7.83kg (size 56cm) PRICE: £6,000 CONTACT: specialized.com
JAMES’S SUMMARY ‘The Future Shock suspension meant the initial ride feeling was very different to anything I’d tried before and, to begin with, not entirely to my liking. On flat roads the Roubaix felt a tad mushy up front. Hitting the cobbles, though, it all made sense as the Future Shock filtered vibrations from big hits like someone had swaddled both of my arms. The back half of the bike was less forgiving (although still more compliant than a normal road bike), which made the bike feel disjointed at first, but I got used to the sensation and was left marvelling at just how effective the Future Shock is.’
how much better he would have felt afterwards had he been on this new iteration, which now has Trek’s Isospeed damping front and rear, as well as disc brakes.
Both my Specialized Roubaix and Sam’s Cannondale Synapse can boast similar winning pedigree, although I can’t help reminding Sam of what it says on my top tube: ‘2008, 2009, 2010, 2012, 2014’, in reference to the number of wins the Roubaix family has notched up at its namesake race. Sam retorts that this new Roubaix model hasn’t actually won anything yet, but still, it would be a foolish man to bet against it this season.
Specialized has completely overhauled the bike. Gone (almost) are the Zertz inserts, elastomers that sat in various holes in the stays and fork legs, which did very little by all accounts (it’s said it was the holes themselves that added the compliance – the elastomers were just there to stop consumers baulking at the idea of seeing daylight through their tubes).
Instead, Specialized has introduced the Future Shock, a sprung cartridge that sits between the top of the head tube and the underside of the stem, offering 20mm of vertical travel, while at the rear is its CG-R seatpost, replete with zigzag bend and Zertz insert to allow it to flex by a claimed 18mm. It’s lengthy too, which it needs to be as the frame is compact and the post is clamped well below the top tube, again for comfort. It’s interesting to note that without the Future Shock (189g), this is Specialized’s lightestever frame at a claimed 700g.
Stacked up against the Domane and Roubaix, the Synapse looks positively traditional, and worryingly unsprung. But Sam has reasons for
Specialized has introduced the Future Shock, a sprung cartridge that sits between the head tube and the stem
choosing it beyond its 1980s-cool chrome lettering.
Rush of blood
Within seconds the full brain-jarring force of the cobbles is upon us and I can see the Domane literally spring into life under Rob’s weight. Viewed from the side the whole rear end seems to be bending, but a closer look shows it’s actually an illusion. The only thing bending is the back half of the split Isospeed seat tube.
Trek has also applied its Isospeed concept up front too, with the fork steerer given room to flex in the head tube thanks to bevelled bearing seats, but it hasn’t forgotten about tweaking the rear Isospeed system. Whereas before the amount of flex was predetermined, the new Domane features tuneable – and greater – damping. A slider in the seat tube can be repositioned up or down – up for a stiffer rear, down for more compliance.
Rob has gone in his words ‘full boing’, and it shows, much to his delight. ‘I can barely feel a thing in my backside,’ he says without even a flicker of schoolboy innuendo.
Sam is in similar schoolboy mood, and his bike choice is revealing itself. Built like a Belgian, he decided he was up for accepting a possible beating in exchange for a quick, lithe machine, and as if to prove his point he moves off the crown of the road – which judging by the oil streaks has claimed more than the odd car underbelly – nips onto the muddied cobbled shoulder and ploughs past Rob with a shout that one can only assume was ‘sucker’, but it is windy.
I give chase and the Roubaix gives plenty back. Everything about me is rumbling, one of my bottles flies out of its cage and yet my upper body, arms and hands feel relatively untroubled by the kerfuffle below.
Heroes and villains
While the Domane wears its tech on its sleeve, the Synapse’s happens under the paint and by way of some interesting tube shapes. There’s a hollow at the foot of the seat tube, and the stays bend and twist in a design Cannondale calls SAVE (Synapse Active Vibration Elimination). The top tube slopes significantly compared to its racier older brother, the Supersix Evo, meaning there’s a large amount of seatpost jutting out to offer flex. Crucially, though, that seatpost is 25.4mm in diameter, much narrower than the 27.2mm or 31.6mm posts that adorn most bikes.
Cannondale says the carbon fibres in the seatstays twist in a helix, which means each fibre is longer than if it just ran straight, and as such vibrations have to travel a longer path into the frame, dissipating much of the energy before it reaches the rider.
Given Sam’s continued progress it seems the Synapse designers have done a sterling job. The section of cobbles we’re on – officially called