NEW Specialized Tarmac SL8 First Ride Review & All The Tech Details - The Road Bike To BEAT In 2023?

Everything you need to know about the NEW Specialized Tarmac SL8! We've had the chance to ride the new Specialized road bike to see how it rides ahead of the 2023 Glasgow Cycling World Champs! Is Remco Evenepoel's SL8 an aero bike or a lightweight climbing bike? Either way, the new Tarmac is certainly in the running for best road bike 2023.

Our first ride was on the Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 with Sram Red AXS but we also take a look at the specs of the Specialized Tarmac SL8 Pro and Specialized Tarmac SL8 Expert road bikes.

What do you think of the latest road bike from Specialized? Is it the best road bike of 2023 and how many wins do you think Remco Evenepoel will rack up on it in 2023? For our upcoming comparisons between the S-Works Tarmac SL8 and Cannondale Lab71 Supersix Evo make sure you're subscribed to the channel!

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Are Expensive Carbon Wheels A CON!? Deep VS Shallow Wheels Speed Tested

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⚫️ In this video

0:00 Introduction
0:22 Tarmac SL8 Headline Claims
0:51 Tarmac SL8 Weight
3:10 Tarmac SL8 Aero Claims
5:22 Tarmac SL8 Stiffness & Compliance
6:05 Tarmac SL8 Geometry
6:23 Tarmac SL8 Builds and Prices
8:25 Tarmac SL8 First Ride Impressions
9:23 Other Details
10:01 Is The Tarmac SL8 Good?
10:43 Tarmac SL8 Final Thoughts
10:58 Outro

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[lucycat]

The SL9 will add back 60 grams to improve stiffness they will say.

[glennoc]

Yes folks it's 2 Snickers bars lighter than its predecessors.

[mark_nz]

I thought Apple was absurd in their marketing but Specialized really take the cake with 'speed sniffer' and the 'best ever' statements.

[dcv]

Impressive Marketing 👏👏👏 - That's how you sell a RIDICULOUSLY PRICED bike. 😎

[francois-josephguillaume]

With so few aesthetics changes, the Sl7 is going to be a bargain soon

[marcusfistarol]

If I compare the Sl7 and 8, the SL7 still looks better right now. Especially the bottom bracket and Cockpit...

[indiebikes]

Having got an SL7 brand new and heavily discounted just a month ago, wow was I lucky. I think now seeing the SL8, there will be a run on SL7’s. I know beauty is in the eye of the beholder, but come on. I don’t want to body shame that SL8, but surely a nose only a mother could love! My SL5 is a rim brake Aethos, and my SL7 is the SL8’s better looking older brother! IMO of course.

[tombola]

All the dentists and lawyers will love all these aero gains on the the once a week trip to park it outside the coffee shop so people can stare at it 😂

[pierrec]

S-Works Tarmac SL8 Frameset: $5, 500 (made in Taiwan). Is this normal?

[modemarcoj]

Or perhaps I will angle my position a bit on my bike and save 20 watts and buy a motorcycle with the 12k

[mr._wattzon]

Less material so imma need a discount!

[Talos]

Why can't you just weight the bike you have in front of you to show the real world weight of that S-works top specced bike??

[ruudboek]

Still far from affordable and simply not worth the money in my opinion

[mikespadafora]

I do not believe the claims that it is 16 seconds faster.

[npdf]

It would be interesting to see someone actually compare this to the venge in a wind tunnel 😊 and on the road maybe also include the aethos 😃😃👍🚴🏻just a thought.. Pete

[KenSmith-bvsi]

Awesome video. So it takes 100 grams extra of Fact 12 R carbon to make an Aethos aero.

[CycoWarriorx]

The Venge still looks like it’ll kick your arse standing still… the SL7, like it’ll curse you out… the SL8 looks like it just wants a group hug… 😂😂😂😂🍻

[samgiamarelos]

You got My 'like' when you pointed out that drugs per gram are cheaper 😅

[MiltankZ]

I will say because the weight drop, it seems to me that the pro version actually hold a pretty decent value. On paper, its better than the sworks sl7 in almost all aspect. Really looking forward to more detailed reviews for it.

[Thieb]

Hi, thanks a lot for this review ! I am looking to purchase a new bike but I am still hesitating between Aethos and SL8. What would you recommend? I love climbing so I thought Aethos was for me, but the performances of the SL8 in climbing seems amazing as well, with the aero benefits that the Aethos does not have! What would you recommend ?