From specialized web: The long road didn't get shorter, just less painful. The Roubaix changed the paradigm of road bikes; no longer does high performance mean high sacrifice. From the most grueling of races in northern France (the infamous Paris-Roubaix) to spirited pleasure rides in Santa Monica, our Roubaix makes choosing between going fast and going long a thing of the past.
of another opinion: This bike has been put through a lot from long rides to numerous crashes. Does great in traffic smooth and quick. I really like the looks of this bike silver and black and honestly am so glad I bought this bike when I did. One day will buy up but till that time am happy with this beautiful bike with a great ride.
A few specific choices involved:
1) Components. I rode several bikes with Sora or Tiagra shifters, and the amount of play in the shifters before they engaged was just ridiculous. Once I test rode Sora, Tiagra and 105 back-to-back, I lost faith in the Sora and Tiagra components.
2) Power transfer. I have a fair bit of leverage and weight to throw into some pedal-mashing, and when I threw it into the full carbon bikes...they flew. I could literally feel the bike leap with each pedal stroke. On the other bikes, I could feel the frame (or even wheels) flex and drain the power before it got turned into speed.
3) Vibration damping. It's just no contest. Going to portions of carbon, and adding zerts (on the allez) definitely help. Going full carbon takes yet another leap in ride comfort. In this case, you absolutely get what you pay for.
4) Fit. I was concerned about being able to fit on a 61cm bike. I searched for over a month to find 63cm+ bikes to ride, and had to "settle" for riding 61 and 62 sizes.
Strengths:
Super comfortable riding position. The handle
bar stem can be adjusted into 4 different positions. Shimano 105
components shift smoothly and easily.
Weaknesses:
Not to sure of the brakes on the hills. Unfortunately can't race down very
many of the hills around here and I'm not feeling it as far as stopping
quickly with these brakes. They will be the first thing I replace.