Specialized Roubaix
Bone-shattering cobbles are no match for this vibration-dampening beauty
YEAR LAUNCHED !""#
The Roubaix has long been Specialized’s most innovative design, from the novel Zertz elastomer inserts – remember those? – to the cobble-calming CG-R seatpost and today’s Super Shock that o!ers 20mm of suspension in the head tube. In short, the Roubaix has never been far from conjuring new ideas for making riding more comfortable but without forsaking speed.
The design team worked hard to get the balance right between the improved pedalling e"ciency of sti!er frames and the low weight of carbon fibre construction. Then in 2004, it launched the ‘Endurance Road’ Roubaix with a new geometry.
We’d seen audax- or century-style-geometry bikes with elongated head tubes, shorter top tubes and more upright stems, which gave a very upright, relaxed riding position suitable for longer rides. However, the Roubaix blended the racier position of a pro bike with the comfort of a century bike – and the ‘endurance’ bike was born.
The 2004 model had an unprecedented combination of torsional sti!ness and vertical compliance.
The result was a bike ideal for Paris-Roubaix with Tom Boonen riding a prototype model to victory in 2008. This was followed by another win for Boonen in 2009, while Fabian Cancellara was victorious in 2010 on a ‘Project Black’ development bike. This SL3 model had a Tarmac-like sti!ness, low weight and new Zertz. Boonen won again on a Roubaix SL4 in 2013.
“Everything is better,” he said. “It’s faster and it also absorbs the vibrations of the cobblestones.”
The 2017 Roubaix SL5 introduced the Future Shock that Specialized had developed with F1 manufacturer McLaren. The innovative frame was very sti! but the Future Shock suspension and a CG-R seatpost, which o!ered 18mm of damped suspension, made it the most active frame design yet, smoothing Zdenek Stybar’s ride to second in its 2017 Paris-Roubaix debut – the year it nabbed our Bike of the Year title.
The Roubaix blended the racier position of a pro bike with the comfort of a century bike – and the endurance bike was born