In the days leading up to the 2019 Paris-Roubaix, Specialized launched their new, full suspension Roubaix frame system. Four days after the launch and the new bike was dominant at its namesake race, with five of the top-10 riding the new bike.
A day after the new Specialized Roubaix was launched, Pinarello also launched a full suspension road bike, but unlike the Specialized, it failed to make the top-20. Legs and luck are two of the most important factors when it comes to winning Paris-Roubaix but how much of a role did the new Specialized Roubaix play in Philippe Gilbert’s victory.
Paris-Roubaix has long attracted unusual technologies in an attempt to tame the brutal cobbles of the Hell of the North and while many have been marketing gimmicks, unsuccessful gambles, dangerous, stupid or all of the above, since the first Specialized Roubaix was launched and raced on 15 years ago, the bikes have been ridden to victory an impressive seven times.
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It goes without saying that it’s no coincidence that Specialized just happen to sponsor the season’s in-form team in Deceuninck-QuickStep and have the sport’s biggest star and 2018 Paris-Roubaix winner in Bora-Hansgrohe's Peter Sagan. However, we have to look back to the dominance of Mapei-Quickstep and Domo - Farm Frites in the late 1990s and early 2000s, respectively, to find a similar representation from a single team making the top-10.
Specialized’s mantra since launching their first full suspension mountain bike in the early 1980s has been ‘smoother is faster’. This concept has been continued in the various iterations of the Specialized Roubaix but in the most recent version, the brand has produced a fast bike that is also comfortable.
You can read more at Cyclingnews.com
via Cyclingnews Latest Interviews and Features http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/specialized-roubaix-dominates-at-debut-race
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