First Look at The Specialized Tarmac SL7 Road Bike

Everything you need to know about the all-new 2021 Specialized Tarmac SL7, dubbed by Specialized as the one bike to “rule them all”.

This year has been a wake-up call for everyone around the world. One of the aspects arising from what’s happened is the number of people who’ve realised how important fitness is.

One of the simplest ways to become is fitter is through cycling and having the right bike makes things far simpler. Thankfully, the eagerly awaited 2021 Specialized Tarmac SL7 is here and you’ll be hard pushed to find a better high-end road bike.

The S-Works Tarmac SL7 that you can purchase is identical to the bikes raced by cycling pros like Sagan, Alaphilippe, and van der Breggen.

It’s marketed as an all-around aero race bike, superseding the Tarmac SL6 (though speaking from experience, this is still a brilliant bike to own) and the racier Venge.

The SL7 features all the tech you’d expect for its price point; disc breaks, a Di2 groupset, an integrated cockpit with Aerofly II bars with a Tarmac stem, and Roval Rapide CLX wheels.

It’s amazingly light. The complete out-of-the-box weight of the S-Works Di2 model is 6.7kg in the Carbon/Colour Run Silver Green colourway. It’s reportedly 45 seconds faster than the SL6 when tested over 40 km.

The bike’s refined aesthetics are extremely pleasing and are a result of the clean integration of the cables in the cockpit – an approach inspired by Specialized’s Venge bike.

The SL7 is labelled as unisex, with Specialized choosing to move away from men’s and women’s specific bikes. The brand says: “Gender alone doesn’t provide nearly enough data to specialize, and that means separating the new Tarmac SL7 into male or female bikes is arbitrary and outdated.”

Specialized Tarmac SL7 prices:

• The S-Works Tarmac SL7 Frameset retails at £3,750 or £4,000 for the Sagan Collection colourway.
• The Tarmac SL7 Expert retails at £4,750 and is available as Shimano Ultegra mechanical or Ultegra Di2.
• The top-end S-Works model, at £10,500, is available as SRAM Red eTap AXS or Shimano Dura-Ace Di2. The Sagan Collection colourway retails at £11,000.

For more information, head to www.specialized.com/gb/en/tarmac.

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