Specialized set tongues wagging this week with the release of the new Crux 5 gravel bike, but it seems the brand could have another new bike in development.
An image shared on the Red Bull Bora-Hansgrohe team photographer's Instagram page, now deleted and first spotted by our friends at Bikeradar, shows images from a team time trial session in Spain where a mystery black road machine was racked up on a team car.
There is only one image to go off, but could this model be a prototype of a new Tarmac? The current Tarmac SL8 launched at the Glasgow World Championships in 2023, and rumours of the new SL9 have been circling for some time; this bike looks different enough to make us suspect it could be a new bike.
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It's hard to see everything from the image, but the bike on the team car appears to have a different, deeper, wider fork crown and headtube area, as well as a clearly different seat tube that's profiled more tightly around the rear wheel.
The bike also had what seems to be quite a bulky rear light fitted, perhaps a radar/camera unit, or a new piece of tech from Specialized.
Specialized provided Cyclingnews with a statement regarding the unknown road machine, saying, "Specialized relies on feedback from professional athletes in both developing and testing advanced pre-production products in real-world applications.
"With this top-level feedback, some of these design elements and products eventually show up in future retail product offerings. We call this Project Black.“
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The fork and seat tube look the most different on the new bike (Image credit: Red Bull Bora Hansgrohe - Maximilian Fries)
The team were time-trial training in Granada, Spain. Surely preparation ahead of the Tour de France Stage 1 team time trial, which takes place in Barcelona.
A few team riders' time trial handlebars were fitted with some kind of sensor, possibly to measure real-world CDA or similar. Some riders' wheels also appeared to have some kind of tape over part of the Roval logo, possibly tying into this testing.
It seems plausible that a new Specialized road bike is at least in development; we tend to see a lot of new bikes and equipment at the Tour Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes (previously the Criterium du Dauphine) ahead of the Tour.
Both races are fast approaching; we will be keeping an eye out for any new developments from Specialized in the run-up and during them.
Tom joined the Cyclingnews team in late 2022 as a tech writer. Despite having a degree in English Literature he has spent his entire working life in the cycling industry in one form or another. He has over 10 years of experience as a qualified mechanic, with the last five years before joining Cyclingnews being spent running an independent workshop. This means he is just as happy tinkering away in the garage as he is out on the road bike, and he isn’t afraid to pull a bike apart or get hands-on with it when testing to really see what it’s made of.
He has ridden and raced bikes from an early age up to a national level on the road and track, and has ridden and competed in most disciplines. He has a keen eye for pro-team tech and enjoys spotting new or interesting components in the wild. During his time at Cyclingnews, Tom has already interviewed some of the sport's biggest names including Mathieu van der Poel, Tadej Pogačar and Alberto Contador. He's also covered various launches from brands such as Pinarello, Ridley, Specialized and more, tackled the Roubaix Challenge sportive aboard his own rim-brake Cannondale SuperSix Evo, tested over 20 aero helmets in the wind tunnel, and has created helpful in-depth buying advice relating to countless categories from torque wrenches to winter clothing.
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