Specialized Tarmac

[2pies]

I'm looking to buy a bike immediately as I have just received my compensation money from a recent road incident. While I had hoped to buy a bike from my LBS, they and many other brands/shops, are out of stock of 2016 bikes and 2017 won't come in for a month or so.

Evans have got some good discounts on Spech bikes so I've been looking at the Tarmac. However, the staff there seem very keen to sell the Roubaix so I just wanted others opinions on it.

My last bike was an alloy roadie with fairly racy geometry, it wasn't marketed as Sportive or Endurance. On London roads I would feel every bump and after long rides I would often be in a little discomfort. I generally put that down to the frame design and my level of fitness.

So would a Tarmac be a smoother ride or would I benefit more from the Roubaix? I'm looking at the Tarmac Sport.

It would be used for a mixture of commuting (14m each way, 3-4 times a week), club runs and the occasional sportive (I had a ride up the Ventoux planned a few weeks ago but couldn't go because of the broken collarbone from the aforementioned road incident.)

Cheers

Just tagging a few people from other relevant threads. Isn't there a guy on here who is the resident authority on Specialized?

@iamRayRay
@gmw492
@ianrauk

 

[bonsaibilly]

Go and try them out. Evans lets you test ride for a penny.

BB

 

[2pies]

Go and try them out. Evans lets you test ride for a penny.
BB

Yeah, I think its £50 isn't it. The Tarmac is in stock now, they *might* get some Roubaix in stock in a few weeks. Might be sold out though. The thought was try the Tarmac, if its nice, buy it. If not, wait. Its killing me getting the train to work at the moment. A 45min delay at Waterloo this evening

 

[bonsaibilly]

Yeah, I think its £50 isn't it. The Tarmac is in stock now, they *might* get some Roubaix in stock in a few weeks. Might be sold out though. The thought was try the Tarmac, if its nice, buy it. If not, wait. Its killing me getting the train to work at the moment. A 45min delay at Waterloo this evening

Sort of... you can reserve a bike for £50, no strings attached... but you can test ride if in-stock in-store for 1 pence on your debit card

BB

 

[vickster]

How about sigma or spesh concept store in Kingston. 20 mins from Worcester park

 

[2pies]

How about sigma or spesh concept store in Kingston. 20 mins from Worcester park

I popped into the Concept store (which is confusingly an extension of Sigma) last Sunday, they have little to no stock. I guess they don't have the buying power of Evans.

 

[2pies]

Sort of... you can reserve a bike for £50, no strings attached... but you can test ride if in-stock in-store for 1 pence on your debit card

BB

Trouble is I'm 6'4 so its extremely rare that any shop, even a large Evans, has a 61cm bike in store.

 

[bonsaibilly]

Trouble is I'm 6'4 so its extremely rare that any shop, even a large Evans, has a 61cm bike in store.

Fair do's, as far as I know that 50 quid will get Evans to order your request in for a test, and still no strings attached. BB

 

[bonsaibilly]

How about sigma or spesh concept store in Kingston. 20 mins from Worcester park

25% off spesh @ evans at the mo... I'm guessing the Concept stores won't be quite so generous.. bb

 

[simon.r]

I test rode a Roubaix last year and didn't like it. I appear to be in a minority, but for me it just felt too 'soggy', especially when climbing. I'd definitely test one before committing as it will be very different to your previous bike.

Interestingly, the guy in the shop said I wasn't the only person who'd test ridden the Roubaix and made a similar comment. He suggested the Tarmac would be more suitable for me, but for various reasons I didn't test ride one.

 

[2pies]

I test rode a Roubaix last year and didn't like it. I appear to be in a minority, but for me it just felt too 'soggy', especially when climbing. I'd definitely test one before committing as it will be very different to your previous bike.

Interestingly, the guy in the shop said I wasn't the only person who'd test ridden the Roubaix and made a similar comment. He suggested the Tarmac would be more suitable for me, but for various reasons I didn't test ride one.

Interesting. I do love a good climb, it the most challenging aspect of cycling.

 

[Broadside]

I've got a Tarmac, my previous roadbike was comfort orientated Specialized Secteur.

The Tarmac is great, I find it very comfortable for long rides, I have done quite a few 100+ Mile rides on it and cycled it from London to Paris, Edinburgh to London and a fair bit of (non loaded) touring around UK, Belgium and France. The Tarmac is a race oriented bike but you can set it up to be very comfortable if you want.

I have tried other similar category bikes from Trek, Cube, Pinarello, Giant etc, but I always feel at home on Specialized bikes and the Tarmac is my favorite of them all.

 

[simon.r]

Here's the thread I posted last year: https://www.cyclechat.net/threads/specialised-roubaix-sl4-comp-disc-experience-opinions.179419/

 

[vickster]

25% off spesh @ evans at the mo... I'm guessing the Concept stores won't be quite so generous.. bb

specialized control their prices, promotions tend to be across all dealers

Sigma have the 61cm Tarmac sport in stock on sale

http://www.sigmasport.co.uk/item/Specialized/Tarmac-Sport-Road-Bike-2016/94SS

 

[vickster]

What's your budget if you fancy something a bit different, you won't find that every other bike is the same at the top of box hill unlike with specialized

http://www.pearsoncycles.co.uk/pearson-hammerandtongs-2016.html

Pearsons sell specialized too of course