the tARMAC SL4 MCLARen iS So Light,Stiff And So expenSivewe ARe onLy MAking five hundRed

you won’t BeLieve it

Chris D’Aluisio Mark Schroeder Luc Callahan Brent GravesKyle Chubbuck Robert Egger Mark Cote Simone Toccafondi

With a highly successful spring season behind us, we proudly add numerous victories to our list of incredible accomplishments in the pro peloton. But it’s easy to forget that when we first jumped into the professional road game, over 10 years ago, we were seen as an American mountain bike brand which had no place trying to shake things up. Soon after Specialized started racing in Europe, I was out on one of my long “thinking rides.” It was this ride where I first came up with the Tarmac name and concept. We built several prototypes, which culminated in Italian racing legend Mario Cipollini racing the original S-Works Tarmac E5 in the 2003 Giro d’Italia, Tour of Georgia, and Vuelta a España.

In 2005 the first full-carbon Tarmac was born and raced by Team Gerolsteiner to victory in Stage 14 of the Tour de France and the San Francisco Grand Prix. I worked on that bike, and I’ve worked on every Tarmac since: the Tarmac SL, SL2, SL3, and now the all-new Tarmac SL4–our lightest and stiffest Tarmac ever. During these years, I’ve watched, sometimes from the team car, as the Tarmac has collected an astonishing number of wins, including the Tour of Flanders four straight times, a World Championship, a dominant 1-2 finish at last year’s Tour de France… and now the Giro d’Italia. I’ve personally worked with riders, ridden with them, and incorporated their feedback into each new iteration of the Tarmac.

Our new Tarmac SL4 is truly remarkable in its stiffness-to-weight ratio—a critical factor in racing performance—with a 19% improvement over last year’s industry-leading frame. With features like the King Cobra tapered head tube, one-piece BB/chainstay, and internal cable routing, we’ve distilled this machine down to the purest expression of racing performance.

The SL4 is the flagship of our road racing program, and a very few riders will be racing the very first SL4’s at the 2011 Tour de France. Many riders, including defending champion Alberto Contador, will continue to race on the proven Tarmac SL3 – any racer who’s ever pinned a number on their jersey knows how Alberto must feel on the eve of what could be the biggest race of his career. So with the current SL3 and the new SL4, alongside the Roubaix, Shiv, and Venge, we offer our race teams the most dominant and complete race collection in the world.

We stopped listening to the traditionalists a long time ago. Over 10 years ago, actually. We’re only interested in listening to the riders, so we can keep making the best and fastest bikes.

We are Specialized,

tARMAC SL4

king CoBRA heAd tuBe

fACt 11R fRAMe

one-pieCe BB/ChAinStAy

2001 2003 2003 2004 2004 2005AuguSt

Based on rider feedback and his own racing experience, Chris

d’Aluisio has the original idea for a race bike combining the stiffness

of alloy—which at the time was stiffer than the carbon used on

bikes—for BB and drivetrain with the compliance of carbon for top

and seat tubes. Begins working on prototype frames.

Junefirst test samples of what will

become the S-works tarmac e5 received; giovanni Lombardi test

rides new bike with Chris d in Santa Cruz mountains.

2004AuguSt

Specialized’s Creative director, Robert egger, rides the tarmac to it’s first ever win: the Specialized

Lunch Ride.

Specialized introduces the S-works tarmac e5—a carbon/

alloy race bike, featuring the now-signature curved top

tube. only S-works models are produced due to the high cost of

production—this project raises the level of manufacturing to lay

the groundwork for all carbon bikes to come.

MAytarmac e5 is ridden by domina va-canze team, under riders like Mario Cipollini and giovanni Lombardi in stages of the giro d’italia and the

first tour of georgia; Chris d races bike to overall win at Mt hood

Stage Race.

JuLydomina races on prototype of

upcoming full-carbon tarmac at select events.

tarmac is launched—our first full-carbon race bike.

tiMeLine

2005 2005 2005 2006 2006 2006JAnuARy

Specialized steps up presence in pro peleton by signing

gerolsteiner—team will ride the new tarmac; frames delivered

for testing.

JuLySelect gerolsteiner riders

premier prototype of upcoming tarmac SL at tour de france;

georg totschnig wins Stage 14 for tarmac’s first tour stage win.

2005AuguSt

Levi Leipheimer wins tour of germany, first multi-day tour win

for Specialized.

SepteMBeRfabian wegmann wins San

francisco grand prix.

tarmac SL is launched featuring new fACt AZ1 construction method. through new total

System integration engineers design frame and new S-works

crank as one integrated system—module becomes the lightest in the industry, giving

birth to the SL name.

JAnuARyQuick Step begins new partnership with Specialized, will ride tarmac

SL along with gerolsteiner.

ApRiLtom Boonen rides project Black alloy frame built with projected geometry for upcoming SL2, to race-test the new geo, and he

wins e3 prijs vlaanderen in Belgium.

tiMeLine

2006 2006 2006 2007 2007 2007MAy

two stage wins in the giro for gerolsteiner.

June1st overall, dauphiné Libéré

with Leipheimer.

2007AuguSt

1st overall, eneco tour of Benelux for gerolsteiner, along with three stage victories for

Quick-Step.

in its second year, tarmac SL and Quick-Step notch 39 wins.

JuLySelect riders for gerolsteiner

and Quick-Step ride prototype of upcoming SL2 in tour de france; tarmac earns four stage wins at

the tour and the green points Leader’s jersey for tom Boonen.

SepteMBeRworld Championship for

paolo Bettini.

JAnuARy1st overall at the tour of Qatar.

tiMeLine

2008 2008 2008 2009 2009 2009

feedback from riders like Boonen gives credence to our philosophy that overall

torsional stiffness and stiffness-to-weight are paramount in racing performance.

new SL2 is launched featuring a tapered head tube and new fACt iS construction to save weight and improve efficiency—as

a result, overall stiffness and stiffness-to-weight numbers for complete module rank among the highest in the industry.

feBRuARyBoonen wins overall title and points

Jersey in tour of Qatar on SL2.

2008ApRiL

victory at tour of flanders with Stijn devolder (first of four

consecutive wins at this prestigious Spring Classic for tarmac).

JAnuARy1st overall at tour down under.

feBRuARy1st overall, tour of Qatar; stage

win at the tour of California with frank Schleck.

After highly successful first season, the SL2 stays unchanged for 2009 but continues tradition of winning some of the biggest

races on the calendar; Bjarne Riis and Saxo Bank begin partnership with Specialized and immediately

start winning on tarmac SL2 alongside Quick-Step.

oCtoBeRQuick Step takes the tarmac SL2

to over 40 wins on the season.

tiMeLine

2009 2009 2009 2009 2009 2010

ApRiLvictory at tour of flanders with Stijn devolder (2nd consecutive win there for devolder and Specialized); Andy Schleck wins Liège-Bastogne-Liège.

2009MAy

Select riders on both teams ride giro on prototype of upcoming SL3 (disguised as SL2); Best young Rider for Quick Step.

SepteMBeRtwo stage wins at the vuelta a españa.

SL3, the fifth version of the race-proven tarmac, is launched

to the public. Stemming from rider feedback, improvements to the layup/

manufacturing techniques, such as a new one-piece, carbon oSBB/chainstay, yield large increases in

lateral and torsional stiffness, while also saving weight. team Astana now riding tarmac along with Saxo Bank.

June1st overall at tour de Swiss with

fabian Cancellara.

MARCh1st overall at Critérium

international with Jens voigt; stage win at paris-nice.

JuLytwo stage wins at the tour de

france plus 2nd overall for Andy Schleck.

*over 60 wins in the 2009 season between Saxo Bank and Quick-Step.

tiMeLine

PMS Cool Gray 04cCMYK: 0/0/0/24

RICH BLACKCMYK: 50/40/40/100

PMS 369cCMYK: 59/0/100/7

PMS 356cCMYK: 95/0/100/27

PMS 7408cCMYK: 0/25/95/0

PMS 7413cCMYK: 0/53/100/4

SHEEHANGRAPHiCdESiGN

2010 2010 2011 2011

JuLyonce again our teams assist with development,

with key riders testing SL3 bikes at tour de france featuring technology designed for

what will be the next generation of tarmac; SL3 goes 1-2 in tour de france—Specialized’s first-ever victory there—with Alberto Contador

winning and Andy Schleck in 2nd; tarmac nabs three stage wins in the process.

2011

world’s #1 ranked team htC-highroad begins partnership with

Specialized, joining Astana and Saxo Bank-Sungard racing on Specialized bikes. teams continue winning with

victories at: tour down under, tour of Qatar, paris-nice, tour of Catalunya.

JuLythe next geneRAtion of tARMAC iS heRe! Continuing the winning pedigree for the tarmac

family, the all-new tarmac SL4 is launched. upgrades result in an amazing 19% increase in stiffness-to-weight ratio over previous model, as well as a 16% increase in overall stiffness.

ApRiLtarmac continues its reign over tour of flanders with its fourth-straight victory, this time under Saxo Bank-Sungard’s

nick nuyens—Specialized is only American bike company ever to accomplish

this feat.

ApRiL fabian Cancellara wins tour of flanders (3rd consecutive

for tarmac); victory in e3 prijs vlaanderen.

2011MAy

Alberto Contador dominates the giro d’italia on his SL3 with the

overall victory and two stage wins.

*More than 55 wins between Saxo Bank and Astana in the 2010 season

tiMeLine

2011JuLy

following the highly successful releaseof the S-works + McLaren venge—and

years of collaboration between the twocompanies—Specialized debuts a

prototype S-works + McLaren tarmac SL4at the tour de france

teChnoLogy

The overall torsional stiffness of a bike is the single best determinant of its acceleration and handling. So nothing was spared in making the SL4 the stiffest frameset and complete module possible, without sacrificing ride quality. The high-modulus carbon frame, with massive top and down tubes, is constructed in our most advanced FACT IS method: The frame is divided into four monocoque sections (plus dropouts)—with carbon fibers running continuously from tube to tube within each section—for more precise optimization of tubes shapes, sizes, and joints. With advancements like our King Cobra head tube, strategically placed ultra-stiff pitch fiber, internal ribbing, and tweaks to seatstays and fork, we were able to create the stiffest race bike on the market, and realize an amazing 19% increase in stiffness-to-weight ratio over last year’s industry-leading SL3.

StiffneSS

toRSionAL StiffneSS (n*m/deg)

We could have made the SL4 lighter, but we refused to compromise the explosive acceleration or sharp handling Tarmac riders demand. So we shaved every gram possible—it remains one of the lightest framesets in the industry—while maintaining these essential ride characteristics. The new head tube design means less material and a smaller, lighter lower bearing. We also save material through our proprietary internal ribbing in the head tube and BB, while the new hollow carbon front and rear dropouts are feather light but remain stiff and durable. Throw in an impressive 10% weight reduction in the fork plus our uber-light S-Works crankset and the complete module weighs in at a scant 1995 grams.

weight

fRAMe ModuLe SySteM weight (g)

king CoBRA heAd tuBeOur proprietary King Cobra tapered head tube has allowed us to achieve the best of all worlds: save weight, increase torsional stiffness, and improve vertical compliance. Through “wrapping” super oversized down and top tubes partially around the tapered head tube, thereby eliminating flat surfaces and smoothing transitions, we’ve stiffened and strengthened these critical junctions so much that we are now able to use a narrower head tube (only 1-3/8” at the crown, down from 1-1/2”). This of course also means less material in the head tube and a smaller bearing, resulting in considerable weight savings. Finally, the narrower, 1-3/8” head tube/crown interface means no sacrifice in ride quality.

one pieCe BB/ChAinStAy With FACT IS construction on the SL4 frames, the bottom bracket and chainstays are constructed as one piece, optimizing weight and stiffness in this critical and high-stress area, improving acceleration, efficiency, and handling. The oversized BB and chainstays are molded together creating a single unit, rather than bonded together after molding, along with the carbon BB shell. This super strong and stiff unit is seamless from the BB to the dropouts, eliminating potentially weak junctions. This design resists deflection under extreme pedal loads for improved power transfer.

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2012  S-­‐Works  Tarmac  SL4  

2011  S-­‐Works  Tarmac  SL3  

2010  Pinarello  Dogma  60.1  

2010  Canyon  UlAmate  CF  SLX  

&2010  Cannondale  Super  Six  High  Modulus  

2011  Cervelo  R5   2011  Felt  F1  

2011  ScoP  Addict  RC  

2011  Trek  Madone  6.9  SSL  

B-­‐B  S%ffness  (N/mm)  

B-B StiffneSS (n/MM)

SeAtStAyS The new seatstay design features a significantly wider stance which improves lateral stiffness. Plus specifically-engineered, dual-taper shaping near the bridge optimizes overall brake performance.

CARBon dRopoutSFront and rear hollow carbon dropouts provide a stiffer interface with the wheels for improved handling and efficiency. The front and rear dropouts also feature co-molded steel inserts for added durability when taking wheels on or off. Rear dropouts are also designed to allow for cable routing through the seatstays.

inteRnAL CABLe Routing Rear brake cable is routed through the top tube and both derailleur cables run through the down tube, with the rear cable continuing through the chainstay. This protects the cables from the elements and road grime, assuring optimal shifting and braking performance with lower maintenance. It also keeps this frame looking as sleek and sexy as possible!