Aero road has been a driving force behind Specialized's recent bike development and their design engineers have developed and tested many shapes and combinations to build their library of in-house resources. In their quest for tube shapes that deliver the fastest frame that the UCI rules allow, they took a page out of the Venge development book and utilized the FreeFoil Shape Library. Armed with a core book of optimized shapes, they turned to the Win Tunnel to plug these shapes into a modular test bike for more testing and validation. The result? A new Tarmac that’s the fastest they've tested- 45 seconds faster over 40km than the Tarmac SL6 (with Aerofly II handlebar in test).

While aerodynamics were paramount to the Tarmac’s development, and to the development of all of Specialized race bikes, weight was the co-pilot on this optimal race bike journey. Previously “aero bikes” always compromised in the weight department, the more drag you reduced, the more weight you gained. With the new Tarmac, the design philosophy was to keep it at, or below, the UCI weight limit out of the box as a complete build, with no sacrifices to aerodynamics. Tools like isotopic FEA analysis, used in conjunction with the tubes shapes and some engineering wizardry by the best engineers in the industry, enabled Specialized to deliver a frame that weighs a mere 920 grams, consistently across sizes, without giving up a gram of aero, stiffness or ride quality while allowing for 700x32 tires. The primary ingredient in all this has been their FACT 10r Carbon, which was developed in house to provide a more cost effective combination of carbon fiber properties that make the SL7 design unique.

Finishing off the Tarmac SL7 frameset, the designers drew off their experience and proven systems of the Venge to apply simple integration to create a clean, fast cockpit that’s easy to live with. They've improved the routing for any configuration, mechanical shifting, traditional stems, round bars, etc., all while keeping its aerodynamic attributes. A BSC threaded bottom bracket system was integrated and found to test as well or better than other systems for stiffness and power transfer. The frame features a 12/142mm rear thru-axle and flat mount disc standard, which matches the SL7 FACT Carbon Fork, albeit with a 12/100mm set-up. The lightweight and upper-section compliant 2021 S-Works FACT Carbon Tarmac Seatpost is included, as is the Tarmac integrated stem, 6-degree, with detailed spec determined by frame size.

The groupset is the aforementioned 11-speed Shimano Ultegra Di2 R8070/8050/8000 set-up. You get true road bike gearing with a 52-36 crankset and 11-30 cassette. Shimano's hydraulic braking is easy to service while delivering great feel and power with 160mm front / 140mm rear RT800 Center Lock disc rotors. These grab hold of a Roval Rapide CL 50 Wheelset and carry Specialized's venerable S-Works Turbo clincher tires in the 700x26 size with Turbo Ultralight tubes.

For the cockpit the 2021 S-Works Tarmac Carbon Di2 Carbon Seatpost carries their Ti-rail Power Pro Saddle. The lightweight carbon Aerofly II handlebar with it's mid-compact specs mates to the integrated -6 degree Tarmac stem. Supacaz's Super Sticky Kush tape finishes off the incredibly clean set-up. Bar, stem, post and crank lengths are equipped by bike size, as is saddle width (see details below).