Specialized's core road range covers everything outside of performance-focused carbon road race bikes. Specialized has put plenty of effort into these ‘everyday’ bike ranges; the price-conscious Allez and flat-bar Sirrus ranges both receive some significant changes, and will join the the all-new Diverge model we've already covered.
Additionally, the electric Turbo S gets a cheaper sibling and there's also the AWOL, a focused touring bike with an off-road twist.
And if the technical changes aren't enough, it seems 2015 is the year of loud, if not risky, paintschemes.
Check out more of our Specialized 2015 coverage.
Allez
Allez is a long-standing price-conscious aluminium road series, a popular introduction to the sport for many cyclists. For 2015, the Allez S-Works, Elite and Comp models are made with a rather revolutionary new frame construction technique, which greatly reduces weight and positively impacts ride quality. It's known as D’Aluisio Smartweld.
A closer look at the patented Smartweld at the head tube
Chris Wehan, road product manager at Specialized, explains Smartweld: “When you combine the gusseted hydroformed head tube and top tube with its rolled ends, it creates a valley. This valley is awesome as it shows the welder exactly where to weld with no variation. It also concentrates the heat away from a high stress area, which is traditionally on the head tube, and then that allows us to create a thinner tube with great fatigue life and lower weight, and fine tune our desired characteristics.”
The new Allez Elite frame is 150g lighter than last year's, and is a claimed six percent stiffer, and 11 percent more compliant.
We were slightly surprised to see that there are three versions of the Allez D’Aluisio Smartweld frame. The S-Works version has a claimed frame weight of just 1,050g with a OSBB bottom bracket, tapered head tube and Di2-only compatibility. The Allez Comp has a 1,150g claimed frame weight and keeps the OSBB and tapered steerer tube. The Elite model, however, makes use of a straight 1 1/8in head tube and threaded bottom bracket, and has a claimed frame weight of 1,250g.
The Allez Sport (US$970 / AU$1,199 / £TBC) and Allez (US$770 / AU$949 / £TBC) models receive a new E5 level frame too.
Specialized joins Giant and Trek in offering a kid's road bike for 2015
And for the young ones, there’s now an Allez 650 (US$TBC / AU$899 / £TBC). The name comes from its 650c wheel size. It uses an A1 level frame, and will be available in a 44cm size only.
Sirrus
The new Sirrus Pro Carbon Disc
Sirrus is Specialized’s range of flat-bar-road-meets-commuter bikes. The big story here is the all-new FACT 9r carbon disc frame. The new carbon frame is claimed to weigh 1,200g, to be more compliant than the Roubaix range, and all models, including alloy, offer fender and rack mounts.
Unlike previous generations, the Sirrus frames are developed from the ground-up with increased tyre clearance and a 2cm-longer reach to suit the flat bar position.
Sitting at the top of the line, is the unique Sirrus Pro Carbon Disc (US$TBC / AU$3,299 / £TBC) with its SRAM X1 1x11-speed gearing, Magura MTS hydraulic disc brakes and Specialized Roubaix Pro 28c tyres.
Perhaps a more ‘everyday’ example is the Sirrus Elite Carbon Disc (US$TBC / AU$1,799 / £TBC) with its Shimano Sora gearing and Tektro Gemini hydraulic disc brakes.
Turbo
The Specialized Turbo
In a brief Skype appearance to Australian Specialized dealers, Mike Sinyard, founder of Specialized mentioned that the Turbo e-bike excites him the most, hinting at perhaps “riding a Roubaix with a motor inside the rear hub in five year's time”.
With the e-bike market booming, Specialized proudly introduced the Turbo S, claiming it to be the 'world's fastest' at the time. For 2015, the lower-priced Turbo (US$TBC / AU$4,999 / £TBC) is on offer. It shares many of the same features as the S, including the aluminium frame and Swiss-designed motor, but has a battery with fewer cells and doesn't have the automatic regenerative braking feature.
The rear light is built into the saddle
The frame features rack and fender mounts along with automated integrated lights, which even run during the day for safety. The batteries are sourced from the same place as Apple. The S battery offers more cells (capacity) and also happens to be the only aftermarket battery option from Specialized, so upgrading the Turbo battery will be a simple option.
The Turbo models offer a top speed of 45kmph (although there's a 25km limit in Australia). We’re told the bike doesn’t change between countries, it’s the software that’s programmed different to control to the top-end speed.
AWOL
The Specialized AWOL (US$TBC / AU$1,599 / £TBC)
First released in 2014, the AWOL is a 700c/29in wheeled adventure tourer that has clearance for 29 x 2.0 MTB rubber. It features a Reynolds 725/520 steel frame, rather upright riding position, full rack and fender capability and disc brakes.
The Comp (US$TBC / AU$2,299 / £TBC) and frameset models are fully compatible with a belt drive.
For a closer look, scroll, swipe or click through our gallery at top. The full story on the women’s ranges is coming soon.