Nicely, it’s not the interrupted seatpost design we noticed some time again (that one turned the Sirrus commuter bike), however the brand new Roubaix guarantees a heavenly journey when it’s hell on the bottom.
In comparison with the prior era Roubaix that launched in 2019 with Future Shock 2.0, the brand new Roubaix SL8 appears to be like related however upgrades to Future Shock 3.0 and is lighter and smoother total. And so they say it’s extra aero than something in its class, so it’s quicker, too. Right here’s how:
Future Shock 3.0 & AfterShock
The most recent Future Shock nonetheless has 20mm of journey, however permits it to be tuned for any rider weight. Three springs -firm, medium, and soft- can be found, and as much as 5 preload spacers can be utilized to tune it much more. And so they say it’s straightforward to do in just some minutes, no extra sophisticated than eradicating your stem.
This implies lighter riders will get extra profit, and heavier riders gained’t should crank up the preload. They are saying it reduces influence forces reaching the bar by as much as 53%, however there’s extra…three totally different variations are provided:
- The bottom mannequin 3.1 permits the interior tuning and is undamped (Sport & Base fashions)
- 3.2 provides damping, however maintains inside tuning solely (Skilled & Comp fashions)
- Future Shock 3.3 provides exterior compression damping adjustment so you may tweak it whereas driving (S-Works & Professional fashions)
The three.2 and three.3 Future Shocks shall be obtainable aftermarket for many who wish to improve later. It’s more durable, too, with a thicker boot and extra seals to maintain water and dirt out.
For the rear, they went with a less complicated resolution than the (very efficient) suspension system employed by the Diverge. The AfterShock design makes use of their versatile Pavé seatpost to supply loads of rearward flex, aided by a dropped clamping mechanism that enables the submit to be an extended lever.
The higher a part of the seat tube is deeper than the remaining, making room for a recessed wedge to clamp the submit 65mm decrease than regular. Which means 65mm extra submit to flex, which implies extra journey on the saddle. Right here’s a video displaying it in motion:
Lighter & extra aero body
The body appears to be like related, however the seatstays sit a bit decrease, the downtube is a bit deeper, and the top tube will get a slimmer hourglass determine.
The entrance finish’s updates proceed with a brand new fork form, too, and mixed it provides as much as a 4w drag financial savings. They are saying that’s good for 17.7 seconds saved over 100 miles, assuming you may pump out 3 watts per kilogram.
The carbon layup borrows from the Aethos and, on larger finish fashions, will get 12r carbon to realize a 50g lighter body, even with wider tire clearance and extra mounts. They declare a painted 56cm body with out {hardware} is 828g, and full bike weights are:
- S-Works = 7.3kg (FACT 12r)
- Professional = 8.1kg (FACT 10r)
- Skilled = 8.6kg (FACT 10r)
- Comp = 8.9kg (FACT 10r)
- Sport = 8.9kg (FACT 10r)
- Base = 9.46kg (FACT 10r)
All fashions get three bottle cage mounts (one underneath the downtube), prime tube bag mounts, and fender mounts.
Tire clearance & geometry modifications
Tire clearance bumps as much as 38-40mm tires, relying on tread sample. It’s nonetheless not a gravel bike, however for cobbles and “quick gravel” races like SBT GRVL, it could be sufficient. It’s spec’d with their 32mm S-Works Mondo tires, however simply suits their 38mm Pathfinder tires, too…or a 28mm highway tire, which is the smallest they suggest on this bike.
The geometry solely sees one tweak – a bit longer attain, averaging 10mm throughout the dimensions vary. This pushes the entrance tire out extra for higher toe clearance when operating bigger tires, and the match is well maintained by operating a barely shorter stem.
Pricing and Specs
Full bikes vary from $2,800 as much as $14,000 for the S-Works mannequin, with seven complete builds obtainable. Framesets use the highest degree FACT 12r carbon and are available in at 5,500.
