The Specialized FACT carbon monocoque fork is full carbon—legs, crown, steerer—and features an oversized lower bearing race for precision and strength; Zertz inserts soak up the chatter. The 4-position forged alloy Pro-Set stem (with oversized bar-clamp area) makes the connection between bar and stem seem like a stiff-yet-adjustable work of art. The Roubaix Pro SL C2 Red features SRAM’s top-of-the-line Red crankset, for superb energy transfer and ultra-precise shifts.
Strengths: Perfect blend of stiffness under power, comfort over bumps, and low weight. Other bikes I have owned have been comfortable (steel and Ti) and stiff under hard efforts (aluminum) but no other bike has combined all of the positives with none of the negatives.
Weaknesses: Cost.
Bottom Line:
I have had many bikes over the years, including high end bikes made from lugged steel, aluminum, titanium, and carbon fiber. Unlike another reviewer's experience, in my opinion the ride of the carbon fiber bikes, like my current Roubaix Pro SL3, is far far superior to any other material. This bike is incredibly light, stiff under power, and vertically compliant over bumps. My classic Italian steel framed bike is a great ride in its own respect but the bottom bracket visibly flexes back and forth under a hard sprinting effort and it does not dampen road chatter like a carbon or titanium frame. If I had to sell every bike but one (I currently own 6 bikes) the one that I would keep is the Roubaix Pro.
Similar Products Used: I have owned many bikes including aluminum Cannondales and Specialized, steel framed Bianchis, Ti Lightspeeds, Carbon fiber Roubaix's, track bikes, fixed gears, 'cross bikes.
Bike Setup: stock 2011 Roubaix SL3 Pro SRAM with tubeless Dura Ace wheelset alternating with Reynolds Carbon tubulars.
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Submitted by
ron
a Recreational Rider
Date Reviewed: October 22, 2010
Strengths: SRAM Red rear portion of drivetrain. Crisp, accurate, perfect shifts. SRAM Red saves some weight, for the weight weenies...But a 225 pounder, like me, doesn't benefit much. Nevertheless, it got me easily through my first century this year...That loyalty isn't easy to come by.
Weaknesses: SRAM Red front derailleur...4 Trips to LBS plus my own tinkering and it still isn't right.
Bottom Line:
2009 Model...Bought in early 2010. LBS bought a bunch of leftover 2009 frames and built them with SRAM Red. Love the bike. It's the most comfortable on long distances I've had in my 40 years of biking. Dampens the ugliest bumps in the road.
Bike Setup: SRAM and stock setup (except has 105 cassette).
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Submitted by
Brian
a Road Racer
Date Reviewed: June 23, 2010
Strengths: Light, responsive, that is about all I can say for it.
Weaknesses: Unimpressive ride. No smoother than my full steel ride. DA brifters felt really cheap, the reach to the levers was too far and the levers, poor ergonomics. Noisy drivetrain, mis-shifts and a pain to have to have two shifters. Spacing between gears not consistent.
Bottom Line:
Rode this bike with Dura Ace components as a "free test ride" that Specialized offered. I never had a carbon framed bike and wanted to enjoy the smooth ride everyone raves about with carbon, I was disappointed. I currently ride a steel frame bike with steel forks. This full carbon gimic did not ride any better than my steel! Like so many gimics in bike marketing, carbon is yet another. The Dura Ace drivetrain is antiquated technology, as are all derailleur systems. My Rohloff Speedhub offers more speeds (14), because many on the 2 X 10 are duplicate, and it shifts flawlessly and quiet everytime under any load (allows you to gain advantage on everyone running deralleur systems). After this test ride, I have satisfied the question whether I am missing out on anything with all this bike tech hype. No, I am not, I will stay with my ride.
Strengths: Stiff, light (enough) and comfortable. The O9 Pro looks, in it's design and paint, much more racy, than the lower tiers. It looks much more like an S Works than I expected. The 2010 has the exact paint as the S Works.
Weaknesses: I haven't found any yet, other than I'm not sold on the Zertz inserts. This is an impressive bike. The specialized seat post won't accept my Fizik Arione CX saddle, so I'm not using the Specialized post. Would the ride be smoother with the Zertz post? I doubt it.
The biggest downside is the big gap in sizing. That super tall head tube makes up for most of it, but smaller jumps in sizing would make fitting much easier. I went bigger than I would have opted for. We'll see long term if that will be a problem.
Bottom Line:
This is the 2009 Roubaix Pro which I bought as a frameset. It weighed 1050 grams before buildup. It currently weighs 16.44 lbs.
I decided I needed to get my handlebars up, and other than going custom - for the money, the Roubaix was my best option. The huge front end, with it's over-sized headset, beefy bottom bracket and tall chain stays really appealed to me coming off a series of race bikes.
So I guess that I shouldn't have been surprised that the bike was much less the plush bike it gets credit for. Maybe some of the rough roads around here annoy me a bit less, but it's no silk ride. I suppose I'm really quite happy about that.
Because of rising the bars by 4cm (I still have a 4 cm drop) and the relaxed head tube angle, the steering is different. It feels like it steers from the back wheel, rather than the front (but it isn't a slow steering feeling like the Colnago I had 2 years ago.) I'm quickly getting used to the handling characteristics and the more upright position. And I have to say that from a performance standpoint it is as good or better than any of the other bikes I've ridden.
Similar Products Used: Pedal Force RS22008 ( full carbon. A great bike- better than the Merckx)
Merckx Team SC (2004 Scandium)impecable handling.
Colnago Dream 2003 Aluminum W Carbon rear. Heavy, Harsh ride, slow steering. I was not impressed.
Look 231 1999 Nice riding bike. Carbon aluminum Lugs. Not that stiff. Not that light.
Fuji Professional, 2004. Aluminum. Great handling bike, fast, stiff, harsh ride.
Motobecane Le Champion 2005, Aluminum. Super short head tube, but the overall ride was good.
Cannondale Caad 5. Aluminum, harsh ride.
Bike Setup: Dura Ace 7800, Easton Carbon EC90slx bars
American Classic wheels.
Strengths: Very comfotable ride. Soaks up road chatter like no other. It is intended to be a plush bike, and it excels in that capacity.
Weaknesses: Feels a little sluggish on climbs. Not the best choice if you want to dominate the crits. Of course, it isn't designed to be a super stiff rocket. For that, you want the Tarmac.
Bottom Line:
I purchased frameset only. An excellent choice for those who prize comfort. Still, it is a respectably responsive bike. A great choice for avid cyclists who simply seek to enjoy their rides, not compete against others.
Similar Products Used: S-Works E5, Fuji Team Issue
Bike Setup: Campy Record drivetrain, Rolf Prima Elan wheelset, 3T pro bar & stem, stock seatpost (soon to be Thomson on my bike), Fizik Arione saddle, and conti gatorskin tires.
