One Bike to Rule Them All

The All-New Tarmac SL8

Nothing is faster than the Tarmac SL8 thanks to a combination of aerodynamics, lightweight, and ride quality previously thought impossible. After eight generations and over two decades of development, it’s more than the fastest Tarmac ever - it’s the world’s fastest race bike. Your legs up for it?

 

Aerodynamic

16.6 seconds Faster over 40km The Most Aero Road Bike We’ve Ever Made

 

Lightweight

    685 Gram Frame

Lightest on the World Tour

 

Ride Quality

33% Improved Stiffness-to-Weight & 6% Smoother Goes Like Hell, Rides Like Heaven

 

Aerodynamics X Lightweight X Ride Quality = Fast

 

Ride Science Proven 
The World’s Fastest Race Bike

Aerodynamics or lightweight alone don’t win races - speed is what matters. Delivering that speed requires creating an uncompromising combination of aerodynamics, lightweight, stiffness, and compliance. Through race simulations using real world data our Ride Science team knows the Tarmac SL8 is the fastest race bike ever made on the routes that matter.

 

16.6 Seconds Faster

over 40km

 

128 Seconds Faster

over Milan San Remo

 

20 Seconds Faster

Over the Tourmalet

 

*All times vs SL7

Tarmac SL8 vs Tarmac SL7

Milan San Remo Finale

Tarmac SL8 vs Tarmac SL7

Tourmalet

Aero In Everything

16.6 Seconds Faster over 40km

We’re putting aero where it matters - the leading edge - not just where it looks good. In the process we’ve created our most aerodynamic road bike ever - 16.6 seconds faster over 40km than the Tarmac SL7. Yes, it’s more aero than the Venge. With its new Speed Sniffer nose cone, you could say, it’s got a nose for victory.

The Sweet Smell of Victory

The Speed Sniffer Nose Cone

Clean air is optimized for maximum advantage with the Tarmac’s new nose cone - the Speed Sniffer. By moving the steer tube back - the tube that determines head tube width - the leading edge of the head tube can be much sharper, delivering a much lower drag shape.

Roval Rapide Cockpit

Leading Edge for a Winning Edge

The Rapide Cockpit (available on S-Works models and in aftermarket) shaves four watts of drag vs the already fast two-piece Tarmac stem and Rapide bar combination by removing a cluster of hardware on the leading edge.

Our Narrowest Seat Post Ever

Thin to Win

Where we find meaningful aero gains beyond the leading-edge we optimize for them. Utilizing new UCI rules, the Tarmac SL8 has the narrowest, most aero seat post we’ve ever made ensuring fast moving, dirty air around the legs can flow back more cleanly.

Flo-Vis paint is one of the tools our engineers use to see how the leading edge of the Tarmac SL8 keeps flow attached for minimum drag, while other areas of the frame see less clean air resulting in less opportunity for aero gains.

Maximum Speed.

Minimum Weight.

685 Gram Frame: Lightest on the World Tour

We made the lightest production road bike in the world - the Aethos - and saw how it could marry blistering response in the mountains with a supple, all-day ride. Knowing just how much faster lower weight makes a bike over today’s demanding race courses, the Tarmac SL8 took learnings from Aethos to be easily built at the UCI minimum with a full aero set up.

 

Maximum Speed.

Minimum Weight.

685 Gram Frame: Lightest on the World Tour

We made the lightest production road bike in the world - the Aethos - and saw how it could marry blistering response in the mountains with a supple, all-day ride. Knowing just how much faster lower weight makes a bike over today’s demanding race courses, the Tarmac SL8 took learnings from Aethos to be easily built at the UCI minimum with a full aero set up.

 

 

685 Gram Frame: Lightest on the World Tour

 

Maximum Speed. Minimum Weight.

We made the lightest production road bike in the world - the Aethos - and saw how it could marry blistering response in the mountains with a supple, all-day ride. Knowing just how much faster lower weight makes a bike over today’s demanding race courses, the Tarmac SL8 took learnings from Aethos to be easily built at the UCI minimum with a full aero set up.

 

685 Gram Frame: Lightest on the World Tour

 

Maximum Speed. Minimum Weight.

We made the lightest production road bike in the world - the Aethos - and saw how it could marry blistering response in the mountains with a supple, all-day ride. Knowing just how much faster lower weight makes a bike over today’s demanding race courses, the Tarmac SL8 took learnings from Aethos to be easily built at the UCI minimum with a full aero set up.

15% Lighter

The team delivered a mind bending, scale tickling 685 gram frame - 15% lighter than the Tarmac SL7 and lighter than anything else on the World Tour*.  

*Unless of course you count the time Kasper Asgreen raced our 585 gram Aethos frame during a Tour stage.

Breaking the Rules. Again.

With the ability to make lightweight a top priority in the down tube, seat tube, and rear of the bike, lessons from Aethos were applied. The frame’s shape carries load so efficiently that extra carbon stiffness layers become redundant.

Aero Where it Matters

You can look aero, or you can actually be aero. We chose the latter and reduced the overall frame surface area to shed serious grams.

Goes Like Hell,Rides Like Heaven

33% Improved Stiffness to Weight ,6% Smoother

With massive gains in stiffness-to-weight, the Tarmac SL8 takes legendary handling, aggressive responsiveness, and World Championship proven geometry to the next level. The bike is stiffer at the pedals, more precise at the bars, and combines it with a compliant ride in the saddle that sets a new benchmark for race bike comfort. Thanks to our Rider-First Engineering, every rider, regardless of size, gets the same unprecedented ride quality and handling.

The Next Level of a Next Level Ride

Tarmac’s next level acceleration and telepathic handling come from reaching bottom bracket, head tube, and front end stiffness targets with incredibly lightweight - a stiffness-to-weight ratio improvement of 33% over the SL7.

Get Comfortable Going Fast

In the saddle, the Tarmac SL8 delivers 6% more compliance, floating over rough road with a supple feel unique in the high strung world of race bikes. 

Proven Winners

Tarmac’s World Championship proven geometry and 32mm tire clearance are identical to the SL7, ensuring easy adaptation and the versatility to run higher volume tires when needed.

 

Aerodynamic

Lightweight

Best Ride

It’s Lonely at the Top

Nothing is Lighter, Stiffer, or More Aero

No other bike has ever come close to the combination of aerodynamics, lightweight and ride quality the Tarmac SL8 delivers. In fact, the only bike close is the Tarmac SL7, the winningest bike on the World Tour over the last four years. It might be lonely off the front, but it sure feels good to be alone a top the podium.

Innovate or Die

 
Aren’t You Glad Some Kids Stayed in Science Club?


Creating a bike more aero, 15% lighter, with a 33% improvement in stiffness-to-weight over the 4X World Championship winning Tarmac SL7 took more than an obsessive commitment to Innovate or Die and our top spec FACT 12r carbon. Our engineering team pioneered an entirely new process to virtually design and test layup after layup, ply-by-ply, to reach our insane performance targets.

Innovate or Die

Aren’t You Glad Some KidsStayed in Science Club?

Creating a bike more aero, 15% lighter, with a 33% improvement in stiffness-to-weight over the 4X World Championship winning Tarmac SL7 took more than an obsessive commitment to Innovate or Die and our top spec FACT 12r carbon. Our engineering team pioneered an entirely new process to virtually design and test layup after layup, ply-by-ply, to reach our insane performance targets.

Data Driven Design

Rider First Engineering

Using extensive data acquisition of forces through every part of the frame during real world testing, the Rider-First Engineered™ Tarmac delivers an optimal balance of stiffness, weight and ride quality at every size. It means every rider, regardless of size, can ride faster everywhere with Tarmac SL8.

Informed by 10,000 + Retül Fits  

 Beyond Gender

There can be more difference between two male cyclists than between a male and female. Gender alone doesn’t provide nearly enough data to specialize and that means creating male or female bikes is arbitrary and outdated. Every rider can get the next level advantage of Tarmac SL8.It’s time to go Beyond Gender.

Heightened by Adrenaline

ColorStory

Inspired by the emotions we feel in moments of adrenaline and heightened senses on the bike, the new Tarmac SL8’s colors and design breath energy and life into the frame’s shapes. Our team pioneered new techniques and pigments to create these effects with as little paint - or added weight - as possible.

The Second Fastest Bike in the World

Tarmac SL7

Our apologies to all the other manufacturers that have been trying to reach the high bar the Tarmac SL7 set. To this day, nothing is faster, lighter, or better handling, except of course for the new Tarmac SL8. And now, you can still get all that performance with our Tarmac SL7 Comp and Sport models.

Made In Racing

Since day one at Specialized, the rider has been the boss so the best all arounders in the world - Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering - the fastest sprinters in the world - Fabio Jakobsen, Tim Merlier - classics stars and climbers alike, all had a hand in developing and refining the Tarmac SL8. We co-created the fastest race bike in the world.

The Leading Edge for a Winning Edge

Roval Rapide Cockpit

Engineered to Disappear

S-Works Torch

The Coolest Gets Faster

S-Works Evade 3

Made Like No Other to Perform Like No Other

S-Works Turbo Rapidair

For Your Best Day

Prime Apparel

The Perfect Reflection of You

S-Works Power With Mirror

The All-New Tarmac SL8

One Bike to Rule Them All

Nothing is faster than the Tarmac SL8 thanks to a combination of aerodynamics, lightweight, and ride quality previously thought impossible. After eight generations and over two decades of development, it’s more than the fastest Tarmac ever - it’s the world’s fastest race bike. Your legs up for it?  

Aerodynamic

16.6 seconds Faster over 40km

The Most Aero Road Bike We’ve Ever Made

Lightweight

685 Gram Frame

Lightest on the World Tour

Ride Quality

33% Improved Stiffness-to-Weight & 6% Smoother.Goes Like Hell, Rides Like Heaven

Aerodynamics

+

Lightweight

+

Ride Quality

=

Fast

 

Ride Science Proven

The World’s Fastest Race Bike 

Aerodynamics or lightweight alone don’t win races - speed is what matters. Delivering that speed requires creating an uncompromising combination of aerodynamics, lightweight, stiffness, and compliance. Through race simulations using real world data our Ride Science team knows the Tarmac SL8 is the fastest race bike ever made on the routes that matter.

 

16.6 Seconds

Faster over 40km

 

128 Seconds

Faster over Milan San Remo

 

20 Seconds

Faster Over the Tourmalet

 

*All times vs SL7

 

 

Tarmac SL8 vs Tarmac SL7

Milan San Remo Finale

 

Tarmac SL8 vs Tarmac SL7

Tourmalet

16.6 Seconds Faster over 40km

Aero In Everything

We’re putting aero where it matters - the leading edge - not just where it looks good. In the process we’ve created our most aerodynamic road bike ever - 16.6 seconds faster over 40km than the Tarmac SL7. Yes, it’s more aero than the Venge. With its new Speed Sniffer nose cone, you could say, it’s got a nose for victory.

 

The Speed Sniffer Nose Cone

The Sweet Smell of Victory 

Clean air is optimized for maximum advantage with the Tarmac’s new nose cone - the Speed Sniffer. By moving the steer tube back - the tube that determines head tube width - the leading edge of the head tube can be much sharper, delivering a much lower drag shape.

 

Roval Rapide Cockpit

Leading Edge for a Winning Edge

The Rapide Cockpit (available on S-Works models and in aftermarket) shaves four watts of drag vs the already fast two-piece Tarmac stem and Rapide bar combination by removing a cluster of hardware on the leading edge.

 

Our Narrowest Seat Post Ever

Thin to Win 

Where we find meaningful aero gains beyond the leading-edge we optimize for them. Utilizing new UCI rules, the Tarmac SL8 has the narrowest, most aero seat post we’ve ever made ensuring fast moving, dirty air around the legs can flow back more cleanly.

 

 

Flo-Vis paint is one of the tools our engineers use to see how the leading edge of the Tarmac SL8 keeps flow attached for minimum drag, while other areas of the frame see less clean air resulting in less opportunity for aero gains.

 

685 Gram Frame: Lightest on the World Tour

Maximum Speed.

Minimum Weight.

We made the lightest production road bike in the world - the Aethos - and saw how it could marry blistering response in the mountains with a supple, all-day ride. Knowing just how much faster lower weight makes a bike over today’s demanding race courses, the Tarmac SL8 took learnings from Aethos to be easily built at the UCI minimum with a full aero set up.

 

685 Gram Frame: Lightest on the World Tour

Maximum Speed.

Minimum Weight.

We made the lightest production road bike in the world - the Aethos - and saw how it could marry blistering response in the mountains with a supple, all-day ride. Knowing just how much faster lower weight makes a bike over today’s demanding race courses, the Tarmac SL8 took learnings from Aethos to be easily built at the UCI minimum with a full aero set up.

 

 

15% Lighter

The team delivered a mind bending, scale tickling 685 gram frame - 15% lighter than the Tarmac SL7 and lighter than anything else on the World Tour*.  

*Unless of course you count the time Kasper Asgreen raced our 585 gram Aethos frame during a Tour stage.

 

 

Breaking the Rules. Again.

With the ability to make lightweight a top priority in the down tube, seat tube, and rear of the bike, lessons from Aethos were applied. The frame’s shape carries load so efficiently that extra carbon stiffness layers become redundant.

 

 

Aero Where it Matters

You can look aero, or you can actually be aero. We chose the latter and reduced the overall frame surface area to shed serious grams.

 

33% Improved Stiffness to Weight ,

6% Smoother

Goes Like Hell, Rides Like Heaven

With massive gains in stiffness-to-weight, the Tarmac SL8 takes legendary handling, aggressive responsiveness, and World Championship proven geometry to the next level. The bike is stiffer at the pedals, more precise at the bars, and combines it with a compliant ride in the saddle that sets a new benchmark for race bike comfort. Thanks to our Rider-First Engineering, every rider, regardless of size, gets the same unprecedented ride quality and handling.

 

 

The Next Level of a Next Level Ride

Tarmac’s next level acceleration and telepathic handling come from reaching bottom bracket, head tube, and front end stiffness targets with incredibly lightweight - a stiffness-to-weight ratio improvement of 33% over the SL7.

 

 

Get Comfortable Going Fast

In the saddle, the Tarmac SL8 delivers 6% more compliance, floating over rough road with a supple feel unique in the high strung world of race bikes.

 

 

Proven Winners

Tarmac’s World Championship proven geometry and 32mm tire clearance are identical to the SL7, ensuring easy adaptation and the versatility to run higher volume tires when needed.

 

 

Aerodynamic

 

Lightweight

 

Best Ride

Nothing is Lighter, Stiffer, or More Aero

It’s Lonely at the Top

No other bike has ever come close to the combination of aerodynamics, lightweight and ride quality the Tarmac SL8 delivers. In fact, the only bike close is the Tarmac SL7, the winningest bike on the World Tour over the last four years. It might be lonely off the front, but it sure feels good to be alone a top the podium.

 

Innovate or Die  

Aren’t You Glad Some Kids Stayed in Science Club?

Creating a bike more aero, 15% lighter, with a 33% improvement in stiffness-to-weight over the 4X World Championship winning Tarmac SL7 took more than an obsessive commitment to Innovate or Die and our top spec FACT 12r carbon. Our engineering team pioneered an entirely new process to virtually design and test layup after layup, ply-by-ply, to reach our insane performance targets.

 

Data Driven Design

Rider First Engineering

Using extensive data acquisition of forces through every part of the frame during real world testing, the Rider-First Engineered™ Tarmac delivers an optimal balance of stiffness, weight and ride quality at every size. It means every rider, regardless of size, can ride faster everywhere with Tarmac SL8.

 

 

Informed by 10,000 + Retül Fits

Beyond Gender

There can be more difference between two male cyclists than between a male and female. Gender alone doesn’t provide nearly enough data to specialize and that means creating male or female bikes is arbitrary and outdated. Every rider can get the next level advantage of Tarmac SL8. It’s time to go Beyond Gender.

 

 

ColorStory

Heightened by Adrenaline

Inspired by the emotions we feel in moments of adrenaline and heightened senses on the bike, the new Tarmac SL8’s colors and design breath energy and life into the frame’s shapes. Our team pioneered new techniques and pigments to create these effects with as little paint - or added weight - as possible.

 

Tarmac SL7

The Second Fastest Bike in the World

Our apologies to all the other manufacturers that have been trying to reach the high bar the Tarmac SL7 set. To this day, nothing is faster, lighter, or better handling, except of course for the new Tarmac SL8. And now, you can still get all that performance with our Tarmac SL7 Comp and Sport models.

 

Made In Racing

Since day one at Specialized, the rider has been the boss so the best all arounders in the world - Remco Evenepoel, Demi Vollering - the fastest sprinters in the world - Fabio Jakobsen, Tim Merlier - classics stars and climbers alike, all had a hand in developing and refining the Tarmac SL8. We co-created the fastest race bike in the world.

 

 

The Leading Edge for a Winning Edge

Roval Rapide Cockpit

 

Engineered to Disappear

S-Works Torch

 

The Coolest Gets Faster

S-Works Evade 3

 

Made Like No Other to Perform Like No Other

S-Works Turbo Rapidair

 

For Your Best Day

Prime Apparel

 

The Perfect Reflection of You

S-Works Power With Mirror