The Specialized Roubaix Comp has won the Road Bike of the Year award in our 2017 Bike of the Year testing — the first of our 12 Bike of the Year categories that represent the culmination of a season’s worth of testing.
This year's awards are a collaboration between BikeRadar, Cycling Plus magazine, What Mountain Bike magazine and Mountain Biking UK (MBUK) magazine bringing a vast amount of expertise to the process.
The road bike testing was headed up by Cycling Plus, Britain’s leading road cycling magazine, which tested dozens upon dozens of the latest and greatest bikes to find a winner. You can read more about the awards in the latest issue — issue 326 — on sale now.
The Specialized Roubaix wins Road Bike of the Year 2017
The Road Bike of the Year came down to five exceptional finalists in the upper mid-range price category. (Scroll down for the complete list of all 25 that were in the initial running.)
There’s nothing out there at the moment that touches the Specialized Roubaix
The other finalists were the Trek Domane SL 6, the Focus Paralane Carbon 105, the Giant TCR Advanced 1 Disc and the Boardman Elite Endurance SLR Disc 9.2.
While all five bikes shone, the Roubaix and its innovative Future Shock front suspension system put it at the top of the class.
“There’s nothing out there at the moment that touches it for comfort, control and the ability to tackle everything from super-smooth blacktop to gravel,” senior technical editor Warren Rossiter wrote in his final summary.
“It grips impressively, with the Future Shock laughing scornfully in the face of broken surfaces and potholes, even at full tilt,” Rossiter said. “In fact, your riding ability is probably going to be the most limiting factor when you’re on the Roubaix.”
The Future Shock is a coil-spring suspension system, set above the head tube, that allows the stem and handlebar — and thus the rider’s arms and part of the torso — to float across rough patches.
The bike comes with three different spring weights to adjust the suspension to the rider.
At the back, the CG-R seatpost provides more than twice the flex of a normal seatpost, balancing the ride fore to aft.
Hydraulic disc brakes not only allow for supreme, all-conditions braking but also a wide choice of clincher selection.
Check out the full reviews of the Specialized Roubaix Comp and the other four final contenders for the Road Bike of the Year in the links below.
- Specialized Roubaix Comp review
- Trek Domane SL 6 review
- Focus Paralane Carbon 105 review
- Giant TCR Advanced 1 Disc review
- Boardman Elite Endurance SLR Disc 9.2 review
The full list of contenders for Road Bike of the Year 2017 was as follows:
- Basso Venta
- Giant TCR Advanced 1 Disc
- Vitus Vitesse Evo Disc
- Viner Maximus RS 4.0
- B-Twin Ultra 720 CF Ultegra
- Eastway Emitter R2 Ultegra
- Fuji Gran Fondo 2.1 Disc
- Genesis Zero Disc 2
- Boardman Elite Endurance SLR Disc 9.2
- Mekk Poggio 2.8
- Ridley Fenix SL Ultegra
- Sensa Giulia G2 Disc
- Rose Xeon CWX 3000
- Canyon Ultimate AL SLX 9.0
- Focus Paralane Carbon 105
- Cérvelo S2 105
- Bianchi Oltre XR1 105
- Merida Scultura Disc 6000
- Specialized Roubaix Comp Blue
- Cube Litening C:62 Disc
- Cannondale Super Six Evo Disc Ultegra
- BMC Roadmachine 02 105
- Trek Domane SL 6
- Ribble R872 Disc UDi2
- Orbea Avant AVANT M20 TEAM D
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