July | 2024 | Justin Fox

I’m obsessed. Every day I’m watching bike videos on YouTube, trawling Reddit, Facebook Marketplace and online bicycle shops and at night I’m watching Tour de France!

I’ve never owned a modern road bike. Always wanted one, but the thought of shaving my legs and wearing lycra and click clack shoes always stopped me.

I had a steel Europa road bike as a kid, loved it, rode it in the Sydney to Gong, but it was way too big for me. Years later I bought and restored an 80’s Paino road bike, still have it and love it, but a recent ride on it just made me realise just how old school it is. The brakes just don’t work (it makes sense that modern road bikes now also use hydraulic disc brakes like mountain bikes have for years), the non-sis gear shifting on the downtube is just whack too (I just left it in a one gear for most of the ride!).

The Canyon Grizl gravel bike is WAY faster than the Paino in regards to getting the power down. It rolls fast, Nick says not as fast as my Paino as he was having to hit the brakes a few times as we were doing laps, but to me it felt WAY faster, especially when getting up and mashing the pedals.

Feel. I think that’s just it. I still feel anxious about taking the Grizl on trails. It’s got a carbon crank and frame, carbon just makes no sense at all to me out on the trails. I had carbon handlebars once on my Giant Reign and one stack over the bars put some pretty serious gouging in the bars, so in the bin they went. I just feel that one big stack on the Grizl on a rocky trail could end up in serious tears.

As a road bike though, carbon has put my mind at easy in regards to comfort and flex. I thought carbon would feel too soft, but fuck me dead the Grizl feels stiff when mashing, it accelerates so well.

I’ve done a tonne of research on endurance road bikes, but who am I kidding? I love the Paino for it’s aggressive race geometry and I absolutely hate slack angles on bike frames both visually and functionally (my SE Lager fixie was super slack and felt so unresponsive).

I’ve researched the fuck out of carbon road bikes. Aero bikes looked crazy hot to me 3 weeks ago, but thank fuck I didn’t pull the trigger on one as I think it’s way too much bike for laps around the park. Something still doesn’t click for me though. I still don’t want to wear lycra. I can appreciate roadie culture, but I just don’t fit in.

Steel is real and I’ve spent weeks planning a fast modern steel road bike build, but maybe it’s time for me to drop the stubbornness, well, not all of it, but what about an aggressive aluminium road bike? It would be stiff, fast, heavier than carbon but lighter than steel. Yeah I felt like I was onto something. A bit different, a little naughty. A little rebellious.

Enter the Specialized Allez.

The Specialized Allez Sprint is an aluminium race bike made for crit racing and it has a world wide cult following. It’s basically a carbon Tarmac SL7 made with alloy and holy shit the welds on it are gnarly, so gnarly that it’s the main criticism by most (not to mention many also consider it way overpriced).

Specialized say: The Allez Sprint is the fastest alloy road bike in history, thanks to the time its sibling, the Tarmac SL7, spent in the wind. It’s details like the most complex alloy head tube we’ve ever made and integrated cables that make it 41 seconds faster over 40km than the previous Allez Sprint. That’s a hell of a facelift. With 41 seconds, you’d have a podium picture in your Insta feed, just saying.

That’s pretty cringe, but I’ve done enough research on the bike to know that the geometry is about as aggressive as you can get for a road bike and those who own one, love it for it’s brutal speed and power transfer, and those who don’t absolutely hate it.

I started looking for one to buy and welp, seems like no-one in Australia wants one as Specialized Aus don’t have stock (nor do they promote the bike).

I think it’s the perfect bike to build frame up, but I’ve had no luck over the past 2 weeks, but I’ve been checking almost daily, and welp, yesterday I ended up finding a size 49 (I’d be sizing down according to their size chart which suggests a 52) 2022 Specialized Allez Sprint Comp in Tarmac Black/Brushed Foil (this frameset has been available world wide in so many rad colourways over the years, but black is all I could find in stock in Aus, such a shame) on sale at Epic Cycles in Queensland for $3,200 down from $4,200. That’s huge money for an alloy frame with Shimano 105 but I’m not looking for the best value for money here. I’m specifically looking for the most aggressive aluminium race bike out there and I think I’ve found it.

I’ve confirmed with the shop that they have it, it’s fully built and on display so they’ll have to prep it in a box for me. Of-course they’ll have to ship it too so we’re still working out a quote, but I’m pretty sure it’s mine!

PS: I’m OK with 105 (the groupset of the people!), but I’m really not into the thin and heavy wheels. Some super lightweight 50mm deep carbon wheels and 30mm tubeless tyres would be awesome, maybe a one-piece integrated stem and bar combo too, but fuck I’ve not even got the bike yet, nor ridden it.

PPS: Click clacky shoes? Maybe. Lycra? Nah. Definitely not going to shave my legs though.

SPECS:

2022 Specialized Allez Sprint Comp in Tarmac Black/Brushed Foil.

GROUPSET: Shimano 105 11-speed 52/36T 11-28t.

WHEELS & TIRES: Front: DT Swiss R470 rim 12mmx100mm, 20mm internal width, tubeless ready, 24h, Specialized full sealed bearing thru axle hub, centerlock disc, DT Swiss Champion 14G stainless steel spokes, DT Swiss brass nipples. Rear: DT Swiss R470 rim 12mmx142mm, 20mm internal width, tubeless ready, 24h, Specialized full sealed bearing thru axle hub, centerlock disc, HG alloy freehub body, DT Swiss Champion 14G stainless steel spokes, DT Swiss brass nipples.

TYRES: Turbo Pro, 60 TPI, folding bead, BlackBelt protection, 700x26mm. Presta, 40mm valve.

COCKPIT:
Specialized Shallow Drop handlebars (6061, 70x125mm, 31.8mm clamp), Body Geometry Power Sport saddle (steel rails), Specialized stem (7-degree rise), Supacaz Super Sticky Kush bartape, S-Works Tarmac Carbon seat post (20mm offset).

FORK:
FACT Carbon, 12x100mm thru-axle, flat-mount disc.