One Bike To Rule Them All.
There are bikes that improve.
E poi ci sono bici che ridefiniscono il metro con cui misuriamo tutte le altre.
The new Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL9 was born exactly for this: not to be simply lighter, more aerodynamic, or more responsive than the previous generation, but to be the fastest road bike ever made by Specialized.
E attenzione: qui non si parla solo di numeri da laboratorio.
We're talking about a much more brutal, much more real, and much more important metric for those who run: Time to Finish.
Because in the end, in a race, only one thing matters: arrive earlier.
S-Works Tarmac SL9: the new rule of road speed
The new S-Works Tarmac SL9
It's not fast just because it's lightweight.
Non è veloce solo perché è aerodinamica.
It's not fast just because it drives extraordinarily.
It's fast because it brings all of this together in a single racing platform capable of converting most of the rider's effort into real speed, on real routes, in real conditions.
Specialized designed it with a very clear goal: to offer the Lower Time to Finish
In other words: when the goal is to cross the finish line first, the Tarmac SL9 was developed to get us there in the shortest possible time.
Time to Finish: the only metric that really matters
In modern cycling, we often talk about weight, aerodynamics, stiffness, comfort, efficiency. All fundamental parameters, of course. But taken individually, they never tell the whole story.
For a World Tour racing bike, there is only one real question:
questa bici ti fa finire prima una gara?
This is where the concept of Time to Finish. Specialized built an extremely advanced road race simulation system, designed to analyze the toughest, fastest, longest, and most selective routes on the World Tour calendar.
Not just climbs.
Not just plains.
Not just sprinting.
Not just technical descents.
Tutto insieme.
The result is impressive: according to Specialized simulations, the new Tarmac SL9 14 secondi in the decisive final stage of the Tour de France Femmes 2024.
Fourteen seconds on a Tour decided by four.
not a detail.
Non un vantaggio marginale.
Ma la differenza tra perdere la generale e vincerla con margine.
Aerodynamics where it counts: 4 watts faster
The Specialized Tarmac SL9 is the most aerodynamic road racing bike ever tested by Specialized.
Starting from the teachings of the Tarmac SL8 and from decades of aerodynamic research, every tube of the new SL9 has been redesigned with a single goal: go faster in real race conditions.
The most visible work starts at the front of the bike, where most of the air resistance originates. Here, the Tarmac SL9 introduces solutions designed to better manage high-pressure flows:
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Thinner Speed Sniffer
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lowered oblique tube
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new Flow fork
Questi elementi lavorano insieme per ridurre la resistenza e migliorare l’efficienza aerodinamica della bici quando la velocità sale davvero.
In the rear, the new spoiler comes into play instead. Win Fin, which redesigns the seat tube and rear triangle based on actual racing conditions. Completing the system is the new Aero seatpost, further optimized in the area most affected by the airflow generated by pedaling.
The result: a bike 4 watts fasterdesigned not to win a static test, but to lower the total race time.
Nothing is lighter: 687-gram frame
Una bici aero, di solito, paga sempre qualcosa sulla bilancia.
The S-Works Tarmac SL9 no
With a frame weight of just 687 grams, the new SL9 sits at the absolute top of the aero road category. A number that speaks for itself, especially considering that complete builds start from 6.5 kg.
E non stiamo parlando di una bici “tirata” solo per inseguire il peso.
The package also includes the wheels Roval Rapide CLX III Roval Rapide.
This result was made possible by the Flow State Design, introdotto per la prima volta sulla Aethos e ora applicato alla massima espressione racing della famiglia Tarmac. Una filosofia progettuale che lavora sulla distribuzione del materiale, sulla forma dei tubi e sull’equilibrio globale del telaio per ottenere leggerezza, rigidità e qualità di guida senza sacrifici.
687 grams for an aero racing frame.
6.5 kg for a complete bike.
Numbers that many time trial bikes can only admire from afar.
One with the bike: sustainable speed, everywhere
La velocità vera non è solo quella che tocchi per qualche secondo.
La velocità vera è quella che riesci a sostenere per tutta la gara.
In salita. In pianura. Nei rilanci. In discesa. In curva. Quando sei fresco e quando sei già al limite.
And it is here that the Tarmac SL9 wants to make a difference.
Specialized wasn't just looking for a faster bike in the wind tunnel or a lighter one on the scale. It was looking for a bike capable of getting the rider into that state where everything seems to work better: the pedaling becomes natural, the trajectory cleaner, the response more immediate.
That state of flow where bike and cyclist feel like one.
The combination of handling, instant responsiveness and driving quality is what makes a Tarmac a Tarmac. And on the new SL9, this balance has not been sacrificed, despite the new aerodynamic profiles and more aggressive tube shapes.
The most important data point, perhaps, is this: the new Tarmac SL9 achieves the same levels of comfort and rigidità of the beloved Tarmac SL8.
Più aerodinamica.
Lighter.
Più veloce.
Ma ancora con quel feeling diretto, preciso e naturale che ha reso Tarmac un riferimento assoluto tra le bici da corsa.
S-Works Tarmac SL9: who it's for
The new Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL9
È una bici per chi corre.
For those who want a road racing bike capable of being fast everywhere.
For those who don't want to choose between lightness and aerodynamics.
For those looking for a platform for climbing, flats, sprinting, descending, and major classics.
For those who want a single race bike capable of dominating every situation.
A bike for those who look at the route and never wonder if it's the right one.
Because the answer is already in the name.
Tarmac SL9.
In sintesi
The new Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL9
is a statement.
A bike built around the concept of Time to Finishwith the goal of reducing real race time and turning every watt into useful speed.
With a frame of 687 grams, complete setups from 6.5 kg, improved aerodynamics of 4 watts, new solutions like Speed Sniffer, Flow fork, Win Fin and Aero seatpost, the Tarmac SL9 presents itself as the most complete and fastest road bike ever made by Specialized.
Light as a climbing bike.
Aerodynamics like an aero bike.
Rides like a Tarmac.
One Bike To Rule Them All.