The Specialized Tarmac SL8 launched at the 2023 World Championships, bagging a gold in the women’s road race under Belgium’s Lotte Kopecky, and accompanied by a raft of claimed performance advantages over the popular SL7.
Among these claims is a reduction in weight, with the SL8 frameset coming in around 120g less than an equivalent SL7, plus it is said to be comfier and stiffer too. The biggest claim, however, is that the Tarmac SL8 is finally more aero than the Venge the last Tarmac supplanted, with the new bike being 16.6 seconds faster over 40km at 45kmh than the old version.
On the face of it, this appears to be big news, and it was rather exuberantly reported on by various media included; revisit the first-look feature I wrote on the new Tarmac last issue for evidence). Having now had the opportunity to ride and assess the bike properly, my enthusiasm for the SL8 update has become a little more circumspect. The platform has definitely taken a step forward, and so remains a superb all-round race bike in a more modern guise, but the new design does introduce some discussion points that temper my ‘have cake and eat it’ first impressions.
