I recently had the opportunity to purchase a 2007 Specialized Tarmac Comp for a bargain basement price that I simply could not pass up (actually the price was so low that I could take the pedals off, sell the bike, and probably still make money off of it). If you are not familiar with bikes, the Tarmac is an all carbon framed race bike geared toward competitive riding. Even though I got it cheap, it was money I didn’t need to spend on a bike I didn’t need to get because I still have my 2005 Specialized Allez Elite Triple, which is a stand out road bike for someone at my current skill level (read somewhat out of shape but experienced enough to want something that moves). So, this puts me a unique position to test out the “carbon beauty” Tarmac vs. the “aluminum workhorse” Allez with the option of selling the Tarmac if it just isn’t my thing without sustaining a hit to my pocket book like the poor guy that sold it to me.

The Tarmac is coming into this, on paper, with all the advantages. It is newer, largely has better components, and it is made of an increasingly popular material with its carbon frame.

First of all, carbon has a weird ride. Not bad just weird. It feels kind of dead on the road the same way a luxury car feels like you are going 25mph when you’re really going 80. In a way this is good because it sort of dares you to find the point were you really feel it but at the same time you don’t want to wear yourself out trying to push the bike (as I found out the hard way). I make no secret that I am no longer in the best biking shape and have not been in good biking shape for some time now, and the Tarmac is build for a pro. This fact is most evident in its lack of a third front chain ring, which is the gear you flip to when you decide to take a hill that you’re not ready for and your legs feel like they are about to fall off. To make a long story short, I started to like this bike a lot less (at least for San Francisco) when a girl in a flowery dress, who I had passed earlier on flat ground, went charging past me up a fairly relentless hill on her fifteen-year-old bike while I looked like some poser about to keel over on my brand new race bike. Now I know most of you are thinking I am hating on the bike because I am wimp, and that is partly true, but most of my training is on flats for long distance so hills are not my friend. And, that dead feeling on the road I was talking about really makes hills feel even worse. I’ve taken this same hill on my Allez and the hill still sucks but not nearly as much.

Riding these side by side the first thing that jumps out at me is the road sense you get on the Allez. It has a few carbon parts (the forks and seat post) as well as some other dampening features to reduce the bumps but the stiff aluminum frame really lets you feel everything. The nice thing about a stiff frame like this is that you feel the road in a way that makes the bike seem more responsive; when you pedal it really goes; when you lean into a turn you feel it grip. The downside to the aluminum is it can lead to more timid riding because when you are going 30mph it feels like 55mph and at the end of the ride your ass knows every surface you road over. Despite the downsides, I really like this overall feel because it feels fast and nimble while keeping me honest about where I am as a rider.

Another key factor that makes the Allez better for me and better for San Francisco is the “Triple” portion of its name, which refers to that little front chain ring that helps with big hills. Sure I hope that one day I will be in good enough shape to forget I have that little gear but until that day I am glad to have it. As far as the other components go, the Tarmac does shift nicer but not by enough to make it a huge deal and the parts that do that stuff are swappable. I could write another whole post on the pedal differences but in short I like the Speedplay Zero pedals on the Allez better than the Shimanos on the Tarmac (so if I am going to ride the Tarmac more I’ll be changing the pedals first). And, I think the Allez is actually lighter than its newer fancier cousin.

Overall, I have to say the Allez is my go to bike but now that I am riding more I will revisit the Tarmac in some months when I have better legs for it and see if I can change my mind.