I gotta tell ya I never looked at this b/c it’s not a ‘race bike’ as it were in the Specialized listing. I was looking for a comfy road bike I could sit on all day and still get nice performance and I gotta tell ya for a single 20 mile ride last night and a 1 hour spin this morning I love it. Was going to wait for the Allez Comp to come off back order, but said what the heck this is on sale lets try it. Rode a complete Allez Comp with Apex and the Secteur with Apex and to me I couldn’t tell one bit of difference. The Apex performs just like my Rival on the Soloist, but the ride is smoother than my Soloist by a long shot, but again that’s what I’m after. I realize most of that is due to reducing the drop as this sucker has a huge head tube, but after moving my Romin over to the Spec. I was in heaven. This old grey mare is embracing my old fart factor!
I have not bought a new bike in a LONG time and even looking at a new frame in the Allez was a stretch for me, but I ended up walking out with a complete 2011 Secteur on sale. Me likey. Give it a look if you are considering a full ride!
Secteur:Roubaix as Allez:Tarmac. Glad you like it. The cheaper aluminum specialized bikes are GREAT deals. The amount of trickle down into those bikes is astounding.
My preferred local Specialized dealer doesn’t have any of the frames in my required 64cm setup, but I’m seriously considering the Apex build of either this or the Allez… I’m in total lust.
Rapp: I gotta tell ya this thing is so nice I was kind of scratching my head looking at the feature set and going back in time to older Specialized high end frames…you nailed it with trickle down.
Quantum: I rode the sweet Allez Comp at another dealer build up with Apex and it was sweet sweet. But I still didn’t want to buy a complete bike. Stopped by another dealer later in the day and they had this, but the deal was just ridiculous so I bit and the ride was 100% the same to me. You will be happy either way in my opinion. I’m glad to have a ton of stack to let me work my way down if I want to, but I’m only running 3cm of drop on it and I’m pretty sure I could ride this thing endlessly in comfort. Doing a 4 hour ride Saturday so will let you know how she rolls.
thus thread is useless without (real) pics. on an unrelated note, i’ve been trying to save up for a tarmac but the paintjobs on the 2011 allez are seriously making it hard not to part with my cash.
I only wish I could justify buying a 2011 Allez… but I have a 2009 Allez. If something horrid ever happens to my R3, I’ll be looking for that frame. I don’t know which is more stupid, the frame’s price or it’s stiffness. It’s an absolutely amazing bike.
Rapp: I gotta tell ya this thing is so nice I was kind of scratching my head looking at the feature set and going back in time to older Specialized high end frames…you nailed it with trickle down.
Quantum: I rode the sweet Allez Comp at another dealer build up with Apex and it was sweet sweet. But I still didn’t want to buy a complete bike. Stopped by another dealer later in the day and they had this, but the deal was just ridiculous so I bit and the ride was 100% the same to me. You will be happy either way in my opinion. I’m glad to have a ton of stack to let me work my way down if I want to, but I’m only running 3cm of drop on it and I’m pretty sure I could ride this thing endlessly in comfort. Doing a 4 hour ride Saturday so will let you know how she rolls.Definitely keep me in the loop. Glad to hear about the stack height… being 6’7" means that frames that remotely fit are a rare breed, and the idea of a 64cm frame is enough to make me seriously considering buying.
I believe 61 is all they make in the Secteur, but the head tube on that thing is 245mm alone…plus you get another 40mm of stack from the top cone and spacers…285mm. I bet that will get er done. I figured out exactly what my specs would be here:
I picked up 46mm of stack from what I had been running on the Soloist and it’s opened up a whole new world or comfort in the neck, arms, shoulders and whatnot. Tomorrow is a 4 hour cruiser ride:)
I’m glad to hear you like this bike. I am looking at getting one for my Dad as his first road bike. He likes to ride an old hybrid bike on the gravel bike path now, but wants to get into road biking. This bike seemed like one that would be comfortable enough to keep riding on the gravel if he wants but also ride on the roads in groups rides and such. Do you think the bike is comfortable/would work well for something like that?
I’m not enough of an expert on Specialized to make such a call, perhaps Rapp will see this and comment. I do think they make some models more directly suited to that purpose, but yea I think it could work. It’s still a serious road machine in this old dawg’s eyes. It’s such a funny thing, but I was ripping along at the same speeds as I do on my Soloist even though I’m slightly less aero, but WAY more comfy. Went from ~ 8cm of drop to 3 and voila it’s butta.
Maybe PM Jordan to see what might fit your pops best?
Intro-road bikes today are the most under-rated thing out there in tri. There’s so much user and manufacturer hype to justify the $$$$ for high-end stuff, but honestly, for eminentably raceable gear, this is all you need.
I bought a bike in the same intro-level class/price in 2009 (Giant Defy 3, $695 Sora/2200), intentionally looking for as cheap a bike I could get for drop-bars so I could use it for commuting/errands as well as fast group riding with roadies. (My main bike is a Cervelo P2c Dura-Ace.)
The Giant, which costs <3x as much as the Cervelo, rides pretty much as fast sans aerobar use. The quality of the ride is also minimally different, except the Cervelo is stiffer, which actually makes me prefer the Giant on longer rides. But I’ve never been on the Defy3 and thought “wow this ride would be so much better or faster with my Cervelo.”
My Cervelo now sits on the trainer and is used mainly on race day. The Defy3, which is eminently replaceable, has been through 3 spills, a crash, and lots of for-fun tinkering, and still looks and runs like it’s brand-new with minimal adjustment. The biggest surprise has been the Sora/2200 components, which work perfectly well - while not as brisk as my DA double, it hasn’t been lacking for me as a triple despite the slightly slower FD shifting.
great looking bike. I’m glad you posted this as I am in the same dilemma as your were before your post. I gotta get on a specialized as the caad’s have had my most recent attention.
Did you ever decide on a new ride? I can say w/o a doubt I have never enjoyed road riding as much as I do now. I have been fairly comfy on some bikes, but none where I had every single aspect dialed in: all contact points, silky gruppo and the best power I can put down. In a word…schwinggggg.
Did you ever decide on a new ride? I can say w/o a doubt I have never enjoyed road riding as much as I do now. I have been fairly comfy on some bikes, but none where I had every single aspect dialed in: all contact points, silky gruppo and the best power I can put down. In a word…schwinggggg.I put in an order for an Allez frame last week, should be getting in tomorrow or the day after. Going to try my hand at building from the frame up… I can install pretty much everything comfortably besides cable housing, so it’ll be an educational experience. I’m really excited… getting a relatively big cassette for it so I can make it an epic climb bike.
Nice! I got so tired of waiting on the frame it was crazy. My LBS still doesn’t have the Allez blue/white frames in…they kept saying any day for months. Last I heard they were into August for one. Glad your shop is on the ball b/c my closest Spec dealer is a goon factory on most everything. You will love it.
Oh believe you me, I’m super stoked. =) It does help that I was ordering a 64cm frame though, as I guess the 61 was out for a long time. Shipped one over from Ohio, took two minutes to order and pay for. Very excited to get crackin’.
Here it is all finalized in setup, still have to chop down the housing. I might keep it long and floppy though just b/c it drives my pal down in Sarasota crazy that an old fart on a $1,300 bike with extra long housing can keep up with his $8K Cervelo/Zippster. I’m just as fast as I was on my Soloist, but can go all day now and don’t get neck fatigue at 2 hours. LOVE the Secteur. Put some pics of you Allez up once you get it built up!
Notice I’m way up on the cluster, cranks nearly vertical and sloppy housing? Just want to give the pocket protector crowd nightmares;)
I will definitely post pics. That’s a sick looking bike… just got my crankset in today, need to get a stem and BB, wait for the frame to come in, and get random nick nacks (cable, housing, bar ends, bla bla), and I’ll have everything I need.
The Allez in the blue/white is super crisp as I have seen a few around here, very slick you will dig it if you have not laid eyes on one up close yet. Yea thanks…it is kinda sick looking for an upright old man cruiser isn’t it? Hadn’t looked at it yet from the side as I’m too busy riding it, but it didn’t turn out half bad. Only change is that I might go back to 170’s to preserve my knees. The Apex is just as smooth as the Red/Rival hybrid I had on my Soloist…enjoy building it up!
