road.cc LIVE: Test ride a new Specialized road or e-bike next February

Hankering after a new road bike? Fancy trying out a new-fangled e-bike? road.cc LIVE on Sunday 26 February is the new event that lets you test the hottest bikes from the best brands, with the likes of Scott, Specialized, Canyon, Cube, Giant, Rose, Ribble and more coming along with their demo fleets.

Specialized have got some tasty treats all lined up for you. They’ll be bringing the brand new Roubaix, the Venge ViAS Disc aero road bike, the Ruby Expert - the women’s version of the Roubaix - and lastly, the Turbo Levo FSR e-bike. Something for everyone. 

There’ll be a selection of sizes: 52, 54, 56, 58 and 61cm for the Roubaix and Venge ViAS; 48, 51 and 54cm for the Ruby; and M, L and XL for the Turbo Levo FSR. Popular sizes will obviously be in demand and they won’t have an unlimited number of bikes, so we recommend getting signed up as soon as possible.  You can do that right here https://roadcclivebath.eventbrite.co.uk

- Your complete guide to Specialized's 2017 road bike range

Let’s run through the key details of the four bikes you can ride. 

Roubaix Expert

Specialized will be bringing the Roubaix Expert, a £3,200 model with a Shimano Ultegra mechanical groupset and hydraulic disc brakes. Here are the full specs on this model. The new Roubaix has been totally redesigned, with an all-new carbon fibre frame that ditches the old Zertz inserts and ushers in a new FutureShock suspension damper housed inside the head tube, isolating the handlebars from the vibrations caused by riding over cobbles or rough roads. 

That’s the defining feature of the new bike, but there’s much else to talk about too. The Roubaix is only being offered with disc brakes I'm afraid, but as well as better braking you get much more generous tyre clearance. It’ll take up 32mm rubber with ease. The frame is lighter than the previous version, too, and Specialized has adopted 12mm thru-axles and flat mounts for the disc brakes. 

The new Roubaix also gets revamped geometry. It’s much lower at the front, though the high position of the previous bike can be emulated with a riser handlebar (first seen on the Venge) and the reach has grown as well. Another interesting detail is the switch from a press-fit to an external threaded bottom bracket. 

Oh, that triangular box down by the bottom bracket? That’s the company’s new SWAT storage solution, ported over from its mountain bike range. It’s a novel approach to carrying all the essentials and is an interesting alternative to a swinging saddle bag.

You can read much more detail on the new Roubaix here 

Ruby Expert

The Ruby is the women’s version of the Roubaix and gets all the same key technology and new developments. There are five models in the Ruby range priced from £1,900 up to £7,500 and like the Roubaix, they’re each equipped with disc brakes, thru-axles, space for up to 32mm tyres and feature the Future Shock suspension damper in the head tube. Specialized will be bringing along the £3,200 Ruby Expert, a bike which comes equipped with a Shimano Ultegra mechanical drivetrain and hydraulic disc brakes. Take a closer look at this bike on the Specialized website here.

Venge ViAS Pro Disc Ui2 

Did yo read our recent review of the Venge ViAS aero road bike with disc brakes? You can take a closer look at road.cc LIVE, and even swing a leg over it for a few laps around the fearsome Odd Down circuit and see there's much more to the bike than its odd handlebars. Specialized will be letting you loose on the £6,000 Venge ViAS Pro Disc Ui2 with an Ultegra Di2 groupset, combining electronic gears with hydraulic disc brakes and Roval CL 64 Disc wheels. Check out the full details on this model here

- Review: Specialized Venge ViAS Expert Disc

Turbo Levo FSR Comp

An e-bike? On road.cc? Our sister site ebiketips.co.uk will be hosting an e-bikes demo event alongside road.cc's road bike demo, so if you’re curious about e-bikes and fancy swinging a leg over one, this is the ideal opportunity. This striking bike is the  Turbo Levo FSR Comp (£4,000) and it will be coming to Odd Down in three sizes for you to try out. It’s a mountain bike and based on the company’s proven FSR full suspension technology with 140mm travel at both ends. It rolls on 3in wide tyres and you get a dropper seatpost. Check out the full specs of the bike here

Like the sound of that lot? Then make sure you get a place at road.cc LIVE by registering your interest here https://roadcclivebath.eventbrite.co.uk

The road.cc LIVE event will be held at Bath's Odd Down circuit. It's a custom-built 1.5km road circuit, and the event has exclusive use of the pristine tarmac all day. No fighting with the traffic on your test rides! Attending road.cc LIVE costs just £30, but there's a limited number of early bird tickets available. Book early and save yourself a tenner: you could have a whole day of testing top road bikes for just £20.