Big News From Specialized Today!
The Tarmac SL8
On August 6, 2023, The new Tarmac SL8 was released. The release coincides with the Men’s Elite Road Race Championship in Glasgow, Scotland.
Though the bike was officially released today, the riders have been testing in for weeks and it was spotted on a weight weenies thread in July and was spotted again during a photo taken during a Soudal-Quickstep training camp.
So the biggest information coming from the launch is
- It is faster (16 seconds faster than SL7)
- It is Lighter than SL7
- Increase Stiffness-to-Weight ratio
- Ride Quality is Improved
To set the record clear, I am a huge fan of Specialized bike. I currently have an S-Works 2015 Crux with canti brakes, a 2015 SL5 Tarmac with rim brakes, a 2018 Epic, 2020 SL6 Tarmac disc, and a 2022 Diverge. I have no complaints on the quality of any of these bikes and they have held up extremely well with whatever I throw at them.
I also have own various other bike brands through the years and have been quite happy with most of the other bikes I have owned and ridden.
So, with the release of the new SL8, I have lot of questions, and interested with initial reactions from the public. It seems like the SL7 just came out and we are already on version SL8.
Lets dive into the new features and then I’ll give some of my thoughts.
Aero is Everything (according to Specialized)
“We’re putting aero where it matters – the leading edge – not just where it looks good. In the process we’ve created our most aerodynamic road bike ever – 16.6 seconds faster over 40km than the Tarmac SL7. Yes, it’s more aero than the Venge. With its new Speed Sniffer nose cone, you could say, it’s got a nose for victory.”
To lead the design changes, the “nose” of the bike, the head tube, now has a “nose cone”. Basically the frame extends forward past the steer tube to provide a more aerodynamic shape. You can find similar nose cones on other bike manufacturers but this one is built into the frame instead of the fork. The results being much lower drag compared to SL7.
With the S-Works model, you received a one piece handle bar with internally routed cables. The one piece stem reduces drag by reducing frontal area and allows for a smoother continuous airflow over the bars, compared to the two piece bar and stem combo found on SL7.
A more narrow seat post has been designed with out compromising stiffness or ride comfort. The leading edge has been optimized to provide the most meaningful aero gains.
Maximum Speed. Minimum Weight
“We made the lightest production road bike in the world – the Aethos – and saw how it could marry blistering response in the mountains with a supple, all-day ride. Knowing just how much faster lower weight makes a bike over today’s demanding race courses, the Tarmac SL8 took learning from Aethos to be easily built at the UCI minimum with a full aero set up.”
The S-Works Tarmac SL8 frame has 115 g less mass than the S-Works SL7. Which is almost equivalent to removing the seat post from the SL7.
The SL8 at 685 g of mass is less than a bottle of water in your cage.
The SL8 is 15% lighter than the SL7 and “lighter than anything else on the World Tour”. Aethos is lighter, but compromises speed on flats.
Get the full details on the Tarmac SL8 White Paper
33% Improved Stiffness-to-Weight, 6% Smoother
“With massive gains in stiffness-to-weight, the Tarmac SL8 takes legendary handling, aggressive responsiveness, and World Championship proven geometry to the next level. The bike is stiffer at the pedals, more precise at the bars, and combines it with a compliant ride in the saddle that sets a new benchmark for race bike comfort. Thanks to our Rider-First Engineering, every rider, regardless of size, gets the same unprecedented ride quality and handling.”
Rider First Engineering
Using extensive data acquisition of forces through every part of the frame during real world testing, the Rider-First Engineered™ Tarmac delivers an optimal balance of stiffness, weight, and ride quality at every size. It means every rider, regardless of size, can ride faster everywhere with Tarmac SL8.
Beyond Gender
There can be more difference between two male cyclists than between a male and female. Gender alone doesn’t provide nearly enough data to specialize and that means creating male or female bikes is arbitrary and outdated. Every rider can get the next level advantage of Tarmac SL8. It’s time to go Beyond Gender.
Color Story
I won’t get too into the colors, but Specialized has pioneered new techniques and pigments to create some wicked and undoubtedly expensive paint schemes, using little paint and adding minimal weight.
My Thoughts
Though I have yet to test the new SL8, the team at Specialized have made some very bold claims. Though, today’s results at World Championships didn’t go as they had hoped, MVPD (Canyon) won the race and there were no SL8s in the top ten. Though it is too soon to say how well the new SL8 will perform. According to Specialized, the Tarmac SL7 was the most winning bike over the last 4 years.
When in comes to the claimed improvements theoretical to practical are two different worlds where the one that really matters in in the real world. One can do all the CFD testing and wind tunnel testing one wants, but once the bike is in the peloton or off the front this is where it really matters.
The improvements are marginal at best and the rider provides the most drag. These marginal gains are only going to be realized by the 1% of elite athletes during racing situations. Aero benefits do nothing for training, but ride comfort can be huge.
For amateur athletes not riding or racing at 45 kmh, little is gained with the new bike. In fact, I will argue that with one piece bar and stem combination much is lost. Adjustability is reduced, increased costs and maintenance difficulties are greatly increased, and cost is significantly increase on for a small reduction in drag. Most riders use a cycling computer which could negate an reported increases too.
The front nose claims seem a bit exaggerated since they are difficult to quantify in the real world where the wind is constantly changing. The wind tunnel uses a laminar flow and outside the wind is more turbulent. CFD gives good results for initial designs, but if rotating wheels, groups of riders, and turbulent winds aren’t assumed, estimates for Cda savings could be over exaggerated.
Though these savings and improvements could be huge for World Tour and professional riders, the majority of cyclists and the biggest base that purchases bikes won’t see any of these benefits. At best, the average rider will receive these benefits in future integration of lower tier models in trickle down technology.
The get into a base level Tarmac SL8 with Sram Rival components one will have to spend $6500, and with that model you don’t get all of the claimed benefits. One must spend $14000 on an S-Works model to reap all the new improvements.
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