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Specialized channels their inner race car with McLaren x Roubaix Dura Ace Di2 special edition

specialized mclaren roubaix super bike
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Since the launch of a very special S-Works Venge, Specialized and McLaren have had a bit of history together. Like the S-Works x McLaren Venge, we’ve seen a few ultra high end limited editions spring up from the partnership, and their new Roubaix is no exception. Draped in a coat of Heritage Orange paint, the bike is designed to pay homage to the high performance cars of McLaren’s beginnings, all while offering a high performance ride worthy of the S-Works name…

All photos c. Specialized

We’ve seen a lot of McLaren Orange lately from Formula 1 to the Goodwood Festival of Speed – all as McLaren prepared to celebrate 50 years of Grand Prix Racing. Granted, their recent string of engine troubles with Honda haven’t exactly worked in McLaren’s favor, but the good news here is that you are the engine. More over, the color throws it back to a time of dominance for their Can-Am cars in the late 60’s/early 70’s, as well as their cars for F1 and Indy. Perhaps more importantly, the color is a tribute to Bruce McLaren himself, who died while testing the 1970 M8D at Goodwood. In spite of the tragedy, the entire team rallied together, won the first race of the season two weeks later, and ended up taking 1st, 3rd, and 7th in the championship that year.

In addition to the color, Specialized has added a few tasteful details like the polished head badge and hubs to mimic the polished wheels of the time. You’ll also find leather bar tape with orange stitching to tie it all together. Of course, a bike of this caliber doesn’t deserve just any old build kit, so the bike includes a full Shimano Dura Ace Di2 drivetrain with a Specialized S-Works carbon fiber crankset, Roval CLX 32 wheels, and CeramicSpeed upgrades on the hubs and bottom bracket. As expected, this level of performance doesn’t come cheap at $11,500, but hey, it’s cheaper than a 720s, right?

specialized.com

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Colin
Colin
6 years ago

Hopefully it doesn’t have a Honda motor in it…

Speshy
Speshy
6 years ago

so it’s a roubaix with chrome bits…Wow.

bob 88
bob 88
6 years ago
Reply to  Speshy

sucked me in, just a not so fancy paint job.

myke2241
myke2241
6 years ago

That paint looks tragic.

GoFunkYoself
GoFunkYoself
6 years ago

That price is tragic. Enough already. Maybe they should cut their legal department, stop suing other companies, and for godsakes stop charging car and motorcycle prices for pedal bikes. Good grief.

Flatbiller
Flatbiller
6 years ago
Reply to  GoFunkYoself

Funny how easily people forget Trek suing a wine tour company in Napa Valley for having the word trek in their name. Guess they get brownie points for making 3 frames per year in the USA, while the rest of bike is still made of foreign components. Yay jingoism!

OldDocThedan
OldDocThedan
6 years ago
Reply to  GoFunkYoself

Yes! Thank you.
Prices are insane pretty much across the board. Someday it’s got to end though I doubt that’s happening anytime soon.

Not like I’m innocent, my dollars have voted for more than one overpriced creation that talked to my ego over the years.

ODT

Wiscomark
Wiscomark
6 years ago
Reply to  GoFunkYoself

Their pricing is right in line with the pricing of other similar brands. And guess what, they sell or else they wouldn’t have such pricing. Don’t like it? Fine, don’t buy it.

DG
DG
6 years ago

What the…….stem spacer….?

Chader
Chader
6 years ago
Reply to  DG

Research “Roubaix futureshock”. It’s part of the suspension system for the bars and stem.

Tarena
Tarena
6 years ago

I like it,but I would expected a Tarmac to come out like that. Price is obscene,Specialized at this point is charging you artisanal custom like prices. Even If I could afford one I would probably look elsewhere.

Marin
Marin
6 years ago

What does McLaren have to do with bicycles?
It’s just slapping a brand name onto something.
McLaren makes cars which have as much in common with a road bike as a submarine.

Putting a high performance vehicle that weighs 1500kg, produces 1000bhp in power and goes 300-400km/h in the same context as a bicycle that weighs 8kg, is powered by 200-300w engine and travels at 10x slower speed is tragic…

darb85
6 years ago
Reply to  Marin

Carbon and Ride Quality Knowledge, Lay ups, Paint tech. Etc

Tim
Tim
6 years ago
Reply to  Marin

My thoughts exactly!

Wiscomark
Wiscomark
6 years ago
Reply to  Marin

Maybe do a little research as to what all McLaren Applied Technologies does. Here’s a start…http://www.mclaren.com/appliedtechnologies/case-study/specialized

OldDocThedan
OldDocThedan
6 years ago

Oh thank god. Someone is finally addressing the paint quality of a bike.
And now that we have Ride Quality (w/ a capital R and Q) being looked after by a car designer (or maybe more likely his intern assistant) we should finally be able to perform at the level we know we are capable of.

And yes, let’s hope they’ve ironed out any power unit issues.
What is McClaren? 5 engines to other constructors 2? Ouch.

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