The Allez is a spectacular bike.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Well the video says it's stiff yet compliant, so there's that.

They've also figured out a way to work 'weld' into a patent name so there may be many fewer welded bikes in production in the near future.

Cool use of hydroforming though.

I'm still not sure why they only let that engineer sit on that tiny stool...

I work for a Specialized dealer, but only have a parking lot ride on the Smartweld bike so far. I have however sold two of them this year and both times the customers rode a normal Allez, the Smartweld and the Tarmac, both stated that it seemed to be the best "bang for the buck" of the three. I will state that both liked the Tarmac better, but it was out of the budget for them.

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Jim

**Note above poster works for a retailer selling bikes and related gear*

I'm a crit monkey, 195lb sprinter. I've been on the new Allez since December. It is easily the equal of my Felt F2. When I got the Allez, I has the option of getting a great deal on a Venge. I'm glad I went for the Allez.

Oh, and I'm a welding engineer, too. The welds at the head tube make a lot of sense.

-Scott

How is the Tarmac different from the Allez?

I'm mostly a triathlete, but would like a road bike for group rides and maybe some races here and there. I miss being able to draft and enjoy group rides the way they were meant to be.

Tarmac is carbon, allez is aluminum. Same geometry.

I got the Race (which, despite missing from its name, also has the new "Smartweld" technology) just after it was released. Really enjoying the bike so far although I haven't much to compare it to.


FWIW, my LBS' head mechanic keeps commenting on how great the value/money is whenever I drop by the store.

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Pain is temporary.

I dunno, Pooks. Maybe SmartWeld is too close to Cervelo's SmartWall tubing. Maybe we could see a battle of equals, drink beer, eat popcorn and watch the lawyers get rich and buy Parlees...

Does Enve's "Smart" system trump all uses of 'Smart' as a prefix or suffix within the entire bike industry?

I'm not "Smart" enough to know… ;-))

I think Cervelo's is older, though.

This is good to hear. What year was your F2?

I read a lot about different builds just recently. Looked at Tarmac and Venge. I have an older 2008 Felt F4 with original parts that was beat up. I shifted to primarily riding and just ordered the Allez Expert with Ultegra 6800 after debating quite a bit.

I'm bigger as well between 190-195 (looking to get around 180 for summer) and have been winning Crits in sprints this year. Was worrying about bottom bracket stiffness and everyone that has one of these bikes has said that it is plenty stiff...if you can't win on it, it isn't the bike.....I'll have it in 1 week so will have to report back.

Hmmm....

http://smartweld.sourceforge.net/

down at the bottom of the page, Sandia Corporation, 1997-2013.

Did they license the tech from Sandia Labs? Or is it just coincidence that their "Smartweld" sounds exactly like Sandia's "Smartweld?"

They may have licensed it from Sandia, I don't know and don't have the interest or time to investigate it fully. It would be more than a bit ironic though if Specialized had not done their copyright homework!

I have a Smartweld Allez as well as a Venge and I've had a Tarmac SL4 in the past as well (crushed in a crit crash).

The Allez is a fantastic bike and even better when you factor in the value. I too am a ~190 lb. sprinter type and if I could only have one bike it would be the Allez. So versatile. I'd be happy to race it and I can easily fit 28c tires on it for some gravel grinding adventures as well.

Full disclosure, my team is sponsored by Specialized. I still buy all my equipment though.

Cheers!

Now they just need to use that hydroforming for a better purpose...like making the tubeshapes aero ;-)

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http://bikeblather.blogspot.com/

I've had a E5 smartweld Allez frameset sitting in the box for the past year... I had been riding on a Litespeed C aero bike and was afraid that I'd be unhappy with the Allez. Last week, I swapped all my parts over and set it up and started riding it this week. I have to say that I'm impressed... it is lighter by .5 pounds, and handles corners with more speed, I climb slightly faster, seems softer over some harsh bumps and my avg. speed went up, and according to the coast downs, I'm a little more aero... I dont' know why seems counterintuitive with round fat tubes vs. a bike supposedly designed for speed and watts savings. All in all, I'm glad I made the switch.

Yes. Unless you want the answer to be no.
I'm a lawyer and I like Parlees.