Today marks the release of a new Specialized Allez. Sure we’ve had the Allez Sprint relatively recently, but that’s more of an aluminium version of the Specialized Tarmac than what we think of as the ‘normal’ Allez.
While the Allez been the company's top end road bike in the past, it now sits as a budget road bike, and in my opinion it’s a far more important release than a new Tarmac would be, and I think it has a greater responsibility to be a good bike than far more expensive models. Not just the Allez specifically, but all road bikes around the £1,000/$1,000 dollar mark. Sure that’s shifted a little upwards along with everything else in life, but the genre remains the same; it’s many rider’s first ‘proper’ road bike. It’s the gateway to the sport we all love, and given the market share Specialized has, it bears a greater responsibility than smaller brands.
