Price Paid:  $1900.00 at Peloton Cycles Lovel

Model Year:
2007

Favorite Ride:
Rist Canyon to Masonville

Bike Setup:
Stock with Rival kit, swapped the stem to a ritchey just to get less rise.

Summary:
Got a great price on this bike because Specialized and Peloton are wonderful sponsors of the CSU Rams Cycling team.

I have the Rival model and really love it. It descends great, sprints wonderfully and is probably the lightest bike you can get for $3000.

Strengths:
Rival components, stiff frame, gearing that makes sense for winter training in Colorado (12-28 cassette is great for base miles in the winter in the mountains).

Weaknesses:
The wheel skewers on the fulcrum wheels are not very good.

Similar Products Used:
Trek 5200, Giant TCR 1 Comp

Price Paid:  $3000.00 at Al's Cyclery

Favorite Ride:
Hardware Ranch

Bike Setup:
Stock plus Fizik microfiber bar tape, Specialized Pro water bottle cages, Hac4 cyclocomputer, Hutchinson Fusion 2 tires Victory Circle graphix sticker

Summary:
This review is for the 2008 Tarmac Expert with the SRAM Rival group. I have been looking for the right bike for more than 3 years, and when I saw the specs and the price on this bike I knew that it was the right time to buy. With the same frame as the pro, SRAM's Rival group and incredibly good looks on paper the bike was all I had been looking for. When I finally went out for a test ride the bike performed every required duty with eagerness. I absolutely would recommend this bike to anyone looking for an Ultegra/Rival level race bike and who can't afford to mortgage their house to get one.

Strengths:
Descending! This bike descends like mad and begs for you to push it faster. I have always been proud of my descending ability and could never get my last bike as fast as I's like it to go downhill. This bike comes into its element downhill. Not too much road buzz but enough to tell me I'm on a race bike. Stable yet responsive.

Weaknesses:
I don't like the 11-28 cassette. The range is too great for a typical training ride. I will switch it out for an 11-26.

Similar Products Used:
Specialized Allez, Trek Madone, Cannondale six13