Specialized Roubaix SL8 Review: New Future Shock 3, 40mm tyres and more aero 

(A) great bike review in a picturesque scenery (I ❤ Portugal), plus a surprise: a second opinion from one of the most brave cyclists worldwide, Jack the Ultracyclist. Really good stuff, thanks a lot, David!

As always a great initial review but I am anxious to hear more once you get your hands on one for a longer term test.

Hey David, been watching your channel for a while, its amazing to see you do all my local routes. I have been doing the Pena and Capuchos climb every other week, for a few years now, haven´t got tired of the scenery yet, outstanding natural beauty and perfect to test an endurance bike. Shame about the weather, but that zone has a very particular micro climate, at <a href="#" class="seekto" data-time="524">8:44</a> its a perfect example, Cascais, on that side of the hill almost guarantees sunshine on a daily basis and then you climb to Sintra and it will be completely overcast and foggy, has you can see on the top right hand corner of the screen, this happens a lot due to the area´s topography.

I have a 2023 S-Works model and I agree with his friend that this bike by ticks all the boxes most incredible ride out there

This bike is extremely similar to my Diverge from a few years back. In size 52, the new Roubaix has .5 degree steeper head tube, 3mm less fork rake, 5mm less Bb drop. I’m sure it (Roubaix) has better road manners (vs gravel) but it certainly seems worthwhile to try 32-35mm road tires on the Diverge. I love the Future Shock 1.0 on the Diverge, and when reviews like this consistently mention keeping the more advanced Future Shock “open all the time” I conclude that the 1.0 isn’t a disadvantage.

This should be the perfect bike for me. Just sold my gravel bike as I was spending 99% of the time riding on the road. The only problem I have now is that my LBS won't have the model of Roubaix I want for another 2 months.

Specialized designs and engineers the best bikes in the world. This is just another example of how good they really are. I've ridden the futureshock on a Diverge I had before getting my Crux and it really does work well.

Damn right, compliance, endurance relaxed geometry for us non Tour de France winners, tyre clearance up to 40mm and mudgard possibility. Love it Futureshock is just the cherry on the cake.

I’m looking forward to a future comparison with the Diverge and the Crux. This bike has 2mm more clearance than my Gen 2 Diverge. Is this the new ‘quiver killer’ do it all? Great at road and gravel? How does it compare to the Giant Revolt Advanced in that QK roll?

looks solid! i'd be interested to know how much faster the roubaix is that a more gravel oriented setup (assuming all else equal besides frame). Something like the crux or stigmata in road config with the same size tires.

How does the geometry compare to the Enve Melee? In your review you mentioned that the melee was a comfier Tarmac. That resonated with me. I’m currently an SL6 owner who is looking to upgrade to a more relaxed geo.

Could have been a nice fit for my purpose had it been released earlier. I'm one of the guys mentioned by David riding a Gravel bike mostly on roads (in my case a Diverge).

People keep bringing up the redshift stem, it's not much of a comparison to the futureshock. I have a 2021 roubaix and had a redshift stem another bike. The futureshock is leagues better, even if it's just the spring model

Best thing about the new Future shock 3.0 and 3.3 is that it fits any and all previous bike models that use future shock.

Thanks for sharing... Wow !!! 1,000 km / 621 mi continuous....

I like it! It’s what a modern endurance bike should be. Kudos to Specialized…..

David what’s your honest tale between this bike and the new Endurace?

This or Cervelo Caledonia? Damn I’m on the market and it’s hard to choose one 😢

Would it be an alternative for your S-WORKS CRUX?

Nice & Thanks :)

Comfort is my priority.

Would this be a good gravel bike??

What make are the sunglasses? Thanks

One thing I've always wondered about with this model... if you're doing a bikefit how do you adjust the front-end heigth? Does the future shock allow for spacers?

Agreed on the handlebar. It’s the only visual aspect of the bike that I don’t like. Are you using a 360 camera for some of the footage by the way ?

Why there is such a gap under the head plastic cover?

Great review David but I’d take my steel Condor Acciaio any day.. just my opinion.. 😊 Pete

HI David. Interesting that the S-Works comes with hover bars. I can't imagine any S-Works owner not swapping them out straight away. The pros won't be using hover bars, and my guess the people who buy S-Works are wanting to ride what the pros ride. Specialized said that it is a bike for really long rides and some gravel, hover bars do not lend themselves well to mounting lights, Go-pros and bar bags. This seems like they did not read their own brief. As the different models have different carbon lay ups, are the 12R bikes made out of the same moulds as the 10Rs? If not, instead of using the hover bar, increase the stack 10-15mm on all 10R and 9Rs. This will give basically the same result for ride position but with a flat drop bar. And S-Works buyers will probably want the racier ride position. What do you think? I understand if everything comes out or one mould then it is cheaper production costs.

Did he ever make another video on it down the line?

Offering 1 x kidney and half of liver for a size "56 please

Love the bike but when are they going to add internal cabling? 😮😢

Dang, I am 58 years old, less flexible, ride decent roads and was hoping for a bike that has a relaxed geometry, lighter and with aero. I guess I am looking for a race bike suited for older guys. Are endurance bikes all supposed to be ridden on bad roads and cobbles or average roads for a long time? The specs and weight of this bike in comparison to the improvements they made on the SL8 is a little disappointing to me. Seems to me they leaned this bike more to the Diverge than the Tarmac.

same weight as Domane, same price points, much more stuff to go wrong with the Roubaix and still no internal cable routing. A clear win for Trek.

I would like to see you test the Tarmac SL8 in Madeira instead🤩

Em, bit of a curate's egg. Really disappointed that they can't sort full integration, it really cannot be impossible. Is it true that there are no Shimano geared versions? If so, also disappointing. Not sure about the wheels too. Big tick for the mudguard mounts and the Future Shock upgrade though.

Keeps me from buying one because still no internal cables and a lot more nicer handle bar.

FIRST 😎👍

i'm still wonder why HJC made a helmet look like a squidward nose.

Did not look, but let me guess: lighther stiffer more aero

Nice bicycle, shame it has disc brakes though. Heavy, troublesome - noisy disc brakes.

Nothing about this bike interests me! I'm not sure what's going on when specialized. This bike looks like it was from 2020. Better off getting a canyon grizzle with a red shift stem cheaper and more capable. Probably more aero and lighter.

The exposed cabling out front makes this bike a no for me.

Nice bike, but................ Riding, without gloves, without, proper, handprotection..............................

lovely jubbly

You can make kind of Specialized Roubaix with your current road bike. Just put redshift seatpost and stem. It will be cheaper and possibly lighter.