Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 road test review opinions pros and cons everything you need to know

Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 road test review Build quality

The Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 has an excellent general construction quality, it doesn't cost little, around 14,000 euros, but the frame is well made, the availability of sizes is good, while it's a shame that the color range is non-existent.

For the same price and often even less, competitors also allow you to choose customized graphics.

The quality of the components used is excellent, it's a shame that the weight remains slightly high, around 7.34 kg, like other less expensive competitors.

Although it is not a cheap bike, the value for money is decent.

The 2023 2024 Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 is no bargain, but it is also one of the few racing bikes that holds its value well on the used market.

Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 road test review Frame

The Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 frame is an excellent product, well made, with a wide availability of sizes and good overall build quality.

The weight of the frame is not high, even if we are at a value of 7.34 kg, which is certainly not little, but some direct competitors do not do better.

The new suspension fork is very nice, it's a shame that the fully adjustable version is only available for the S-Works version.

It remains a high quality racing bike, expensive to purchase and manage, with high spare parts costs, but also with valid technical assistance, excellent warranty and availability of spare parts.

In the end everything has a cost...

Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 road test review Assemblies

The range of assemblies is complete, with very good construction and assembly quality in each version.

Prices remain high, as does the weight which reaches almost 10kg in the cheapest version.

As always, the technical and performance difference between the entry level of the range and the top of the range is notable.

The Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 version is top in every way, an excellent bike overall, impossible to criticize.

Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 road test review Comfort

If it is possible to criticize the price, the only color available, the only assembly available, this is not the case for the ride comfort, which has always been a strong point of the Specialized Roubaix and is even more so in its latest version Specialized S -Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024.

At the top of the market for ride comfort and ability to absorb the vibrations and impacts that come from ruined asphalt, the Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 sets a new point of reference.

Precisely for this reason we would have liked the same suspension fork to be adopted on all models, whereas the others have to settle for a simplified version, which is nevertheless effective as we will see later.

The seat post's ability to absorb shocks and vibrations is equally valid.

Overall, the ride comfort of the Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 is excellent and allows it to be considered one of the best bikes in the category.

Long journeys on very worn roads are therefore feasible.

The Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 is, today, one of the most comfortable endurance racing bikes, perhaps the most comfortable ever, an excellent result.

Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 road test review Guide

The Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 has new geometries but does not change its driving philosophy, always based on maximum safety, stability and ease of driving.

The Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 is a very safe, stable, easy to ride, intuitive Endurance racing bike.

After the first few metres, it feels like you've always ridden it, like all Specialized Roubaix bikes.

Excellent stability at high speeds, equally excellent stability when driving on ruined asphalt.

Stability during braking is also excellent.

Perfectly stable and precise, easy to control even on wet asphalt and cobblestones.

Not very sensitive to side winds and very easy to drive on long straights exposed to the wind.

Equally pleasant to drive is on curved stretches of road.

What I find a flaw is that it is unwieldy, slow to enter tight curves, but always travels on a track.

The Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 is one of the safest endurance racing bikes to ride.

Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 road test review Performance

The new frame of the Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 should have improved the overall performance of the bicycle.

There has been an improvement in terms of rigidity and reactivity, just as the bike now has better aerodynamics, but

it is very difficult to appreciate the real improvements, given that we are talking about a few seconds of improvement over 100km of distance.

The slightly high weight, then, limited these improvements, especially for a normal cycling enthusiast who develops few watts of power.

The new Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 has however grown in terms of overall performance, competitive and at ease on every route: the real difference is always made by the legs and training.

The Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 does not have a weak point, it goes well everywhere, even uphill, with the only limit of a weight that is certainly not contained in absolute terms.

But it is downhill that the Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 is excellent, precise, safe, with absolute reference stability, travels on a track ...

Equally excellent are the performances on stretches of very worn asphalt, you run fast, safe and with good ride comfort.

Ultimately the Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 only has a few grams too much, it would have been perfect with 6.8kg of weight...

A very competitive endurance bike.

Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 road test review Pros and cons

The Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 has proven to be a very competitive, comfortable and high performance Endurance racing bike.

There has been an overall improvement compared to the previous version, both in terms of performance and comfort, but it is also true that the improvement does not justify the expense of changing the bicycle.

However, the Specialized S-Works Roubaix SL8 2023 2024 remains a point of reference among endurance bikes, the most comfortable and among the fastest ever.

It goes well and is competitive on every route, it has no rivals among other endurance bikes.

Downhill and on stretches of ruined asphalt it is competitive against the best racing bikes.

For the defects, the weight, the price, an aesthetic that we consider dated, the lack of choosing a color or even a different group from the one proposed.

With 14 thousand euros we would have expected the possibility of customizing at least the color of the frame.

The latter is completely anonymous...

But it was also in the past and it was not a problem ...

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NDR: the photo does not refer to the specific bike being tested