Trek’s riders won’t be the only ones riding a new endurance race bike this weekend. Simply called “Roubaix”, this new bike is being raced by Tom Boonen tomorrow at Paris-Roubaix. Specialized sent us these pics, but little in the way of details other than to say it’s a future addition to their endurance race bike family. Visually, there are some key differences from the current model.
To start, the Zertz inserts on the seatstays are sleekly integrated into the frame, more so than the current version that’s bolted in from the back. They also appear quite a bit larger, and the position suggests they play a bigger role in vertical compliance as well as vibration damping. Not sure if that’s the case, but could be…
Colors options…or durometer choices to tune ride feel?
The Zertz inserts now wrap most of the way around the stays.
The fork gets the new Zertz design, too.
The bike has the New SRAM Red group throughout except the Specialized cranks with SRAM’s TT chainring. How’d you like to push a super stiff 53 big ring along the cobbles?
The top of the seatstays appear to have a bit more dramatic curve and don’t flow quite as smoothly from the top tube.
The Specialized Chicane saddle appears to get new graphic treatment. Another interesting item spec’d include skinwalled tubular tires with the word “Specialized” on them (not their logo, just the word).
World Championship colors.
