Specialized Roubaix Elite - £2,600 | 9kg

Will Thompson rides an endurance bike with race-winning pedigree

The Roubaix frameset, first introduced by Specialized back in 2004, has won six editions of the famous Paris-Roubaix Classic, including 2018, when Peter Sagan rode to victory on the latest model with the Future Shock system.

I was keen to see how itperformed and I wasn’t disappointed. The suspension system, which is positioned above the head tube and has up to 20mm of travel, immediately got to work and all but eliminated road buzz and the smaller bumps that we’re accustomed to here in the UK.

When climbing out of the saddle I could feel the Future Shock bobbing slightly but I never felt that it was sapping power or slowing me down and there was no noticeable movement when seated. On flat-out sprints for local town signs it really accelerated up to speed quickly and felt responsive to my inputs. I would happily turn up at a local evening race on this bike.

It’s worth noting that the Future Shock system can be height adjusted by 15mm up and down, so most people should be able to find a fit that works for them. In addition, it comes with three different spring options in order to cater for different rider weights.