The Specialized Tarmac SL2, the model ridden by Big Tom Boonen of the Quick Step boys and now by Big Dave Luecking of the PD Posse. Photos by Dave Luecking

Ol’ 10 Speed paid a visit to the Specialized demo Saturday afternoon at the Trailnet office, 3900 Reavis Barracks Road, and took a couple of sweet rides.

Specialized reps Andy Jones and Justin Neely bravely sent me out on a Specialized Roubaix for ride No. 1 and then beyond belief bravely sent me out on a Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL2 for ride No. 2.

The latter is the model ridden in the pro peloton by perhaps the top sprinter in the world, Big Tom Boonen of Quick Step – a team based in Belgium and sponsored by a U.S. company. Boonen also worked with Specialized in the Tarmac SL2’s  development. Quick Step and Gerolsteiner ride the Specialized brand in the pro peloton.

The Tarmac SL2 is an $8,500 bike, which is worth about 15 times more than ol’ 10 Speed’s other vehicle with an SL in the name; that would be a 1996 Saturn SL1 with 140,000 miles on the odometer.

All I can say is that the SL2 bicycle rides 140,000 times better than my faithful SL1 car (and I don’t think upgrading to the SL2 car would make any difference). The power transfer from legs to pedals to wheels is instantaneous and incredible. It’s almost as if your brain is connected to the wheels. You think, “Go faster,” and bammo, the message flows right from the synapses to the wheels and you’re going faster.

Now, ol’ 10 Speed isn’t known for his speed, and my excuse is that I’m as tall as George Hincapie but 1&@ pounds heavier. But … the Tarmac SL2 made me feel light on the pedals. Really. Not dancing, ala Lance Armstrong or Alberto Contador, but light nonetheless.

The proof of that for me was my test ride up the hill on Reavis Barracks Road to Telegraph Road. It isn’t a killer hill by any means, but on my beloved steel road bike, I climbed the hill just two days ago using the lowest available gear on the rear cassette — a cog with 27 teeth (I’m old and slow, what can I say?). Saturday, I powered (for me) up the hill without needing the 27-teeth cog (the demo had a 12-27 cassette on the rear) and I barely needed the 25, just for a bit halfway up the hill right before it plateaus prior to that last incline. So, I basically did the whole thing on a 23-teeth rear cog, which for me, at my size, is phenomenal.

There were two reasons for my vast and sudden improvement:

– The bike is ridiculously light weight, about 14 pounds out of the box, according to Jones. The Tarmac SL2 frame is made of carbon, and the wheelset, Roval Rapide, also is carbon, ridiculously light and ridiculously strong to hold this big tube of goo.

– The high-tech engineering of the carbon-fiber frame prevents side-to-side flexing of the frame, so that all the power from the legs is pretty much transferred directly from the pedals to the wheels. In other words, there’s no wasted motion caused by the frame flexing (as my steel frame does), and, hence, there’s no significant energy drain in the power from legs to wheels.

In that regard, carbon frames are similar to aluminum frames, but there’s one big difference. Carbon frames are more compliant, which means the material absorbs the vibrations from the road similar to what a steel bike does. Aluminum bikes, even with carbon forks and seat posts, tend to transfer the road vibrations into the body, which can beat up a rider on long rides.

As Jones describes it, carbon frames and aluminum  frames are “equally stiff side-to-side,” but carbon is also “forgiving.” Put another way, he said the Tarmac SL2 is “horizontally stiff” (which allows for the power transfer I described) but “vertically forgiving” (which means it absorbs the road vibrations as a steel bike frame does).

While the Tarmac SL2 is a top of the line racing bike, the Roubaix is more of an everyman’s and everywoman’s bike. The Roubaix is more compliant (i.e. forgiving) than the Tarmac SL2, though it has a little more side-to-side flex and not quite the power transfer I experienced on the Tarmac SL2. Still the power transfer on the Roubaix is beyond what my steel bike is capable of. As far as compliance, the Tarmac isn’t nearly as tooth rattling (unforgiving) as an aluminum bike is … but not quite as forgiving as the Roubaix is.

So there’s a bit of a tradeoff between the Tarmac SL2 and the Roubaix, but considering the average recreational cyclist doesn’t need access to power transfer like Tom Boonen does, and considering that, well, the Roubaix costs $2,000 less than the Tarmac SL2, the Roubaix should suit most riders just fine (tho it still finds a home in the pro peloton).

By the way, the Tarmac SL2 comes equipped with the SRAM Red grouppo, which is SRAM’s top of the line components. The Tarmac SL2 I rode Saturday was outfitted with SRAM Force components, one step down from Red. The component package was different because the bike from Saturday was a pre-production model prepared last year before SRAM Red was available. So, basically, the Tarmac SL2 you can buy at a shop today is improved over the Tarmac SL2 I tried out Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Roubaix I tested Saturday was equipped with full Shimano Ultegra. Before Saturday, 10 Speed had ridden neither SRAM Force nor the upgraded Shimano Ultegra, so I’ll review both on Monday.

The Specialized demo continues Sunday, from 11 a.m. to 6 p.m., at the Trailnet parking lot. Jones and Neely have the full line of Specialized road, cyclocross and mountain bikes. All you need to do is give them your driver’s license, sign a waiver, and they’ll pop on some pedals, adjust the seat, and you’ll be good to go. Just bring your helmet and your cycling shoes.

Andy Jones (center, in red) chats up a customer Saturday at the Specialized demo at the Trailnet offices. The bike in the foreground is the Specialized Transition, a high-end time trial bike with state of the art engineering and aerodynamics.

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