Buzzkill....But In a Good Way

WHAT: Specialized Roubaix Pro WHERE: specialized.com HOW MUCH: $3,900

Specialized took a risk by introducing the somewhat “different” Roubaix line a year ago. Road bikes sales have traditionally run along conservatively defined paths. On the one hand, there are the high-end road bikes, where race credibility and heritage draped in either Dura-Ace or Record components, along with feathery weight and sky-high price tags, define the order of the day. And on the other hand, about as far from the knife-edge performance set as is conceivable, are the bikes that people buy to get around on, with comfort being the key buying criteria. Combining aspects of these two worlds - creating a high performance bike with rider comfort given paramount consideration - has generally been thought of as a surefire way to satisfy nobody.

But here I am - having spent the past year on a 16.5-pound, carbon fiber road bike, having ridden said bike on smooth pavement, cracked and bumpy pavement, and hundreds of miles of dirt roads – to testify that they just might be on to something down in Morgan Hill at the headquarters of the Big Red S.

The design impetus behind the Roubaix came from the eponymous cobblestones of the “hell of the north”, where the big guns of the peloton square off every April and beat themselves numb over 170 miles of hideously rough road to prove who is the hardest of the hard. Over the years, racers have tried almost everything to soften the relentless pummeling of the cobbles – fat tires, “soft” wheels, extended wheelbase bikes with super-slack seat angles, front suspension, full suspension, suspension seatposts, and a number of other things that would normally raise eyebrows of skepticism amongst the minimalist hardcore road set.

What Specialized did was create a frame made from carbon fiber, which already has a reputation for light weight and vibration damping characteristics. They slackened the head angle slightly, increased fork rake a corresponding slight amount to keep steering trail in a manageable range, and crafted the rear triangle a little longer than most racebikes. The result is a bike with a slightly longer wheelbase and a slightly gentler head angle than the current race vogue. Then, vibration damping gel inserts, referred to as “Zerts”, were placed into the seatstays, fork, and seatpost. The stem sits higher than most racebikes, and there is some more damping gel on the handlebars below the bar wrap.

Out being ridden, the Roubaix sits a little more upright than might be considered optimal by the body-shaving, heart rate-obsessive set, but which comes as a welcome position for an aging mountain biker. Seating position aside, the bike rides with a deceptive smoothness. Expansion joints and pavement cracks don’t jar as violently as on similar weight, non-damped bikes (regardless of what they’re made of), and the buzz usually associated with rough pavement is noticeably reduced.

Handlingwise, the longer, slacker, geometry didn’t take me much time to get used to. Some more dyed in the wool roadies who I handed the bike off to noted that the steering felt “weird” at first, and a few riders on larger frame sizes thought that the bike felt a little squirmy at high speed. Being shorter, and fitted on a 55cm frame, the bike feels rock stable and completely carve-alicious to me. And, in spite of the comfort, the Roubaix still snaps up hills with the best of them, and sprints just fine, thank you very much.

And, while this will probably not go over too well down in Morgan Hill, with a pair of 700x28 tires mounted, the bike rails dirt roads far better than any road bike has a right to. Almost makes me wish for one of these things made into a mountain bike…