Over the past decade and a half, Specialized's iconic Roubaix has established itself as the bike of choice for those seeking a comfortable, lightweight, endurance road bike with a tall front end.
In doing so, it has evolved considerably from the Spring Classics racing heritage it was originally founded upon – leaving Specialized with something of a dilemma.
‘We had this bike with some really innovative ways of dealing with shock damping and smoothing out the ride, but our pros weren’t keen to use it because quite simply it wasn’t light and fast or aggressive enough for them,' Roubaix product manager John Cordoba told me when we initially spoke about the new design.
The goal with this new version, then, was to pull the Roubaix back into the performance sector – making it more aero, lighter and with geometry much closer to the race-focussed Tarmac – without sacrificing the comfort the Roubaix had become renowned for. An ambitious target indeed.
Shocking results
Since 2017, the headline act in the Roubaix's endurance billing has been Specialized's Future Shock, an active front suspension system consisting of a coil spring beneath the stem.
Developed by Specialized’s Chris D’Aluisio, it was a clever concept in theory. In reality, though, it had its limitations.
The most obvious, from my own experience in testing the old model, was a lack of any damping, which often led to the bike pogoing up and down in an uncontrolled manner on rougher surfaces.
That's not to say it was ineffective at softening the blows over bumpy surfaces. It just lacked a little refinement.
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Enter the new Future Shock 2.0. It retains the same 20mm travel as before (a term Specialized prefers over axial compliance as it relates to actual vertical movement and not fore/aft compliance such as might be created by, say, flex in a fork).
The big difference, though, is the addition of a hydraulic damper controlled by a dial situated on the head tube, which enables you to fine-tune both rebound and compression damping.
It’s a vast improvement on the old system – in fact, functionally it’s night and day, with the added bonus of being sleeker-looking than before, and minimally intrusive.
My initial rides on the Roubaix were quick jaunts around my local lanes, intended merely as an introduction to the bike ahead of something far bigger and gnarlier. Yet the dramatic improvements in the new design were evident from the very first pedal strokes – and the very first turn of that handily located damping adjuster.
With those initial introductions out of the way, it was time to take the Roubaix on a pilgrimage back to the bike's heartland – the cobbled streets of northern France used by the Queen of the Classics, Paris-Roubaix.
Fast and smooth
A single ride lasting more than 10 hours – a good amount of which was on some of northern France’s most iconic cobbled secteurs – provided more than enough time to get to know the Roubaix intimately.
I’ve ridden the official Paris-Roubaix Sportive in the past and finished with my body in a state of ruin – especially my hands, which were left blistered and bloodied – so I'm well aware of the kind of torture the cobbles can dish out.
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And with conditions on the day proving about as bad as they can get – it was blowing a gale and pouring with rain – it proved an extreme test of both the bike's capabilities and my own.
Yet despite my misgivings, at the end of a long day in the saddle spent hitting cobbled sectors at full gas over and over, my hands, arms and the rest of me were still in a surprisingly good state by the end.
It was a hugely telling endorsement of the new Roubaix’s unquestionable – and I’d go so far as to say unmatched, on an equivalent road bike anyway – ability to deal with the full spectrum of bump forces.
And I don’t just mean at the bars. The rear end was impressive too, but I’ll come back to that shortly.
Reducing fatigue and physical damage is one thing, but it’s all too easy for compliance and comfort to come at the expense of an equally vital characteristic on any bike – control.
Yet even on slick and greasy cobbles, I still felt confident pushing hard on the Roubaix.
It’s a simple fact that riding a bike that feels jittery and twitchy on a rough surface makes a rider more likely to back off, especially through corners.
Conversely, then, a bike that feels stable and planted will give you the confidence to ride at higher speeds and take corners faster and with more confidence.
Not only did I feel completely in control on the new Roubaix thanks to not being battered as much, but the feedback through the bike was excellent, letting me know exactly where I stood in terms of grip and road handling at all times.
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I was undoubtedly carrying more speed on the Roubaix S-Works into cobbled turns and sectors, such as the treacherous Trouée d'Arenberg, than I would have on a more rigid, harsh-feeling road bike.
I would certainly concur with Specialized’s tag line, 'smooth is fast'. This bike is without doubt both.
Crucially, though, when I was back on smoother surfaces and wanted to get my head down and up the power, there was no sense of the bike reacting like a wallowy, soft, comfort bike.
A flick of the dial and the Roubaix was instantly capable of delivering a far punchier and more aggressive feel, much more along the lines of – you’ve guessed it – the Tarmac.
It’s certainly faster than the previous Roubaix, and by a good margin too (on the basis that if you can really feel and notice a difference then it’s clearly not a small one).
I certainly have no reason to disbelieve Specialized’s suggestion (based on its own wind-tunnel data) that the new Roubaix is as quick aerodynamically as both the first generation Venge and the current Tarmac SL6.
That’s not to say it's likely to become the die-hard racer’s favourite in Specialized's stable. Those with a purely racing mentality will still be best off on the Tarmac (unless some of that racing is taking place on cobbles, that is).
Road not gravel
On the other hand, the new Roubaix doesn't feel like it is straying too far into gravel bike territory either. Its geometry is simply too aggressive to be a specialist off-road machine, regardless of the active suspension system. Besides, there is only clearance for up to 33mm tyres.
The previous Roubaix was one of the first bikes to utilise the concept of clamping the seatpost much lower down inside the frame to allow the post to flex over more of its length than just the exposed part.
The new Pave seatpost continues on the same vein, and why not? It was an ingenious idea that many other brands have since imitated.
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There’s a palpable downwards and rearward motion on bigger strikes, and although no movement is apparent during normal pedalling, it seems to deal well with diffusing the high frequency buzz from the road surface.
It’s certainly as good as the older CG-R post, and to my mind a much neater-looking package – in truth I've never been a fan of that odd-looking Z-shaped design.
The seatpost plays an important role in helping the Roubaix strike a necessary balance from front to rear. Being superbly sprung just at the front end would feel disjointed if the rear end was, by contrast, still harsh.
Thankfully, Specialized has achieved enough compliance in the rear to manage this aspect well too.
Dial it up
Which brings us to the dial adjustment for the damper, which sits neatly in place of the stem cap, and is really intuitive and easy to use.
Product manager Cordoba said he felt most riders would likely set the dial to either fully on or off, but I’m not so sure I agree.
I regularly found myself trying out various points in the graded scale of damping (the dial clicks with each step of adjustment), and I often found the sweet spot to be somewhere in the middle of the scale, or a few clicks back from full.
I guess this will vary based on the terrain and a rider's weight and riding style, but my point is it’s not as simple as an on/off switch. It’s way more progressive than that, which is a good thing.
I should point out that even when set to maximum, the system is still never fully locked out. It’s always possible to overcome the damper to some degree and achieve some movement.
However, you'll be unlikely to notice it on the road – not if you're anywhere near my (69kg) body weight anyway.
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The groupset on this S-Works model is Sram’s latest Red eTap AXS 12-speed and it makes an ideal partner for this bike.
Not only does the wireless shifting lend the bike a super-clean aesthetic but the clutched rear derailleur proved a noticeable asset on the cobbles. I was genuinely surprised by how quiet the bike was. There was no chain slap or chatter to speak of.
The wheels are equally well suited to the overall package. I’ve reviewed the Roval CLX 32 wheels in the past, and found them to be superb. Roval – Specialized’s in-house wheel brand – has really upped its game and is able to go shoulder-to-shoulder with the big guns these days.
The Roubaix came specced with Specialized’s own cotton Turbo 28mm ‘Hell of the North’ tyres, and I stuck with the supplied inner tubes for my early testing.
However, the wheels are tubeless ready (and are supplied with the valves), which makes the upgrade to tubeless quick and easy. This is an upgrade I fully plan to make in due course, as I feel it could potentially make the bike feel quicker still, and will only add to the overall comfort.
If there's anything I would want to change, it's the handlebars. The riser-bar Specialized fits on the Roubaix as standard isn't for me, but that's a tiny gripe, and easily addressed.
For some, though, it might even be seen as a positive, as it keeps the front end from being overly low and aggressive straight out of the box.
Verdict
Overall, I can’t deny this new Roubaix S-Works has impressed me immensely.
I wouldn't previously have considered myself a potential Roubaix customer, but now I have to reconsider.
Specialized has done an excellent job of drawing on the vast expertise it has gained from building super-fast aero machines like the Venge, not to mention its outright racer, the Tarmac.
And let’s not forget that with its older generations of the Roubaix and its all-road Diverge it knows a thing or two about comfort too.
The new Specialized S-Works Roubaix really feels like a successful convergence of all these platforms.
I can’t see too many downsides, unless you are an outright racer who cares for very little besides saving every possible gram of weight in the pursuit of every last ounce of performance.
If so, the Tarmac will still be the better choice for. But for nearly anyone else, this new Roubaix is going to tick a lot of boxes.
It’s fast and racy when it needs to be, but dial round that damper and the plush feel of the Future Shock comes through, transforming it into a highly capable and versatile beast that you can enjoy going fast on for the long haul.
