Bespoke Blog

The updated Specialized Tarmac was one of our favourite bikes from 2017, in fact we so were blown away by its performance we made it our Bespoke bike of the year. The frame is all-new, lighter and aerodynamic, with improved compliance and increased tyre clearance.

And now it's available with disc brakes.

Essentially the new Tarmac Disc looks and feels just like the Tarmac Rim. Specialized has worked hard to ensure the new disc-equipped Tarmac handles just like the rim brake version, and there are no significant visual changes other than the obvious accommodation of disc brakes via flat mount callipers and 12mm thru-axles, both things that are largely standard in the industry now.

At launch Specialized is just offering one complete build for men and one for women, the S-Works bike costing £9,250, with a full complement of Dura-Ace R9100 components and Roval CLX50 wheels and, for the first time, its very own S-Works dual-sided power meter.

Frame weight is up a little, 733g to 800g, and 338g for the fork, but this S-Works model tickles the scales to just 6.66kg, so is well below the UCI's 6.8kg weight limited if such a thing bothers you.

Compare that to an S-Works Tarmac Rim at 6.36kg and the difference is negligible, especially when you factor in the much improved braking performance of the latest R9170 disc brakes with their funky disc rotors.

So that's just a 300g weight difference between the rim and disc brake Tarmac, and with a power meter included! Oh yes, Specialized has also unveiled its own range of power meters, and its top-end S-Works dual-sided power meter is fitted as stock to the bike.

The geometry of the new bike is largely identical to the rim brake Tarmac, only the chainstay length is fixed at 410mm rather than varying from 405 to 410mm depending on frame size as part of Specialized's improved Rider-First Engineered approach to frame design. Specialized has also minimised the aero impact of disc brakes, and it says both bikes provide identical drag figures.

It's also available as a frameset costing £3,250 with a choice of paint jobs. So as always we'll be offering the option to build your dream bike to your specifications, and of course perfectly fitted.

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We've already pre-sold our initial allocation of this eagerly awaited bike. More stock is due towards the end of April. We strongly recommend pre-ordering now to ensure that you reserve one of the next batch.

Pre-order online, or contact us for more info, and to talk about bike fit and/or custom builds:

S-Works Tarmac Complete Bike (Men's)

S-Works Tarmac Complete Bike (Women's)

S-Works Tarmac Frameset