Specialized Allez Sport 2024 review

The 2024 Specialized Allez Sport takes a well-rehearsed and well-respected entry-level road bike platform and tweaks it to the needs of today's riders, with relaxed geometry, tubeless wheels, disc brakes, wider tyre clearances and mudguard mounts. 

It caters to budget-conscious and entry-level road cyclists, with non-proprietary components that are easy-to-service and affordable to replace. It is a versatile bike that can tackle the long weekend club ride with its comfortable geometry and the weekday commute with its mudguard mounts. It's not a gravel bike but it will even survive a detour over a broken road or light gravel track if curiosity gets the better of you. 

At £1,600 ($1,800 / €1,750), it's not the super-budget bike it once was, and those counting every last dime will find it tough to consider over the better-value-on-paper options from competitors, but the Allez Sport still represents a sound entry-level platform that's ripe for upgrading.

Since its launch in May, I've been spending time with the Allez Sport; the higher of two spec options - the other being the base Allez at £1,100 ($1,200 / €1,200). 

To tens of thousands of road cyclists around the globe, the Allez represents a beginning; the inception of their love for the sport, and holds a special sentimental place in their heart as their 'first proper road bike'.

For years, it has been Specialized's entry-level road bike, and with the brand's position as arguably the biggest in the industry and its prominence in stores, it's a naturally common choice for interested roadies looking to try out this new sport. 

Recent iterations of the Allez have served this purpose exceptionally well, so when this version launched in the summer of 2023, it had an important reputation to uphold. As a budget-friendly, entry-level model, this Specialized can't specialise; it needs to do everything well while meeting a price point that doesn't break the bank. It doesn't need to be the fastest like the Tarmac SL8, nor the most comfortable like the Roubaix. It needs to be fun to ride, easy to own, affordable to run, and versatile enough to handle being the one-bike solution for the huge variety of potential eventual owners, as well as the different sorts of riding that those owners are likely to do. 

It has an unusual position of responsibility, one for the future of our sport. Good or bad the Specialized Allez will still sell in vast quantities purely on its predecessor's reputation, as well as that of the Specialized brand and its prominence in bike shops. With each flaw and negative experience comes an extra reason for these new cyclists to go and try golf instead, so the fewer it has, the better. 

Design and specifications

The base of the new Allez, no matter whether you opt for this spec or the cheaper version, is an aluminium frame and full carbon fibre fork. 

A glance through the geometry chart will tell you that the riding position is quite upright, and thus should be comfortable for most. Interestingly, the geometry of the 2024 Allez has seen some "smoothing," as Specialized puts it, so if you're looking to upgrade from the outgoing model, you'll want to check what's changed in your size, especially if you're happy with how that bike fits you. 

For example, in my case with a size 58cm frame, the outgoing model was particularly upright. I was glad to see this adjusted to a slightly more 'standard' road position, and it now sits in line with the competition such as the Cannondale CAAD13 and Domane AL. That's only one small example though, to get a feel for how the new geometry might affect you, here's the full 2024 Allez geometry chart below, and beneath that, the differences made from old to new. 

And here's how that differs from the old one:

• What size bike do I need? Geometry charts, stack and reach explained

Specialized says the changes are due to information gained from its subsidiary-brand Retul's bike fitting database, and calls it 'Endurance Road Geometry.'

Geometry aside, a significant positive with the design of the Allez is the way Specialized has kept everything simple and low maintenance. 

For example, despite the trend for integrating cables into the handlebar and stem, as found on Scott's Speedster for example, Specialized has kept cabling here external. They do run inside the frame, but instead of entering at the head tube and routing through the headset bearings, they enter at the down tube. They then exit at the bottom bracket via a large exit port. 

It's as if the whole package was designed by someone who had recently been frustrated by an expensive servicing bill, and I'm very much here for it. 

Elsewhere, the bottom bracket is threaded, meaning that too is easy to service, and the seatpost is a simple, round, non-proprietary 27.2mm, meaning if ever you need to find a replacement, you can just head into your local shop and they'll almost certainly have something in stock that'll fit. There are a couple of nice features here too. One is that the seatpost is covered in small horizontal ridges, adding to the friction to prevent it from slipping, and the second is that the seatpost clamp doubles up as the stabilising mount for a rear rack. 

Visually, Specialized has kept things very simple, and in fact, not much has changed from the outgoing Allez. An embarrassing admission on my part is that in April, prior to this bike launching, I was in California and paid Specialized a visit. I joined the lunchtime staff group ride and was handed this bike. It took me 30 minutes before I realised it was new. 

The seatstay bridge is the only real visual talking point, which Specialized has decided to have some fun with by making it diagonal. When asked why, Specialized's Road Bike Product Manager told me that it's a "talking point" on the shop floor. I appreciated the honesty from a brand that typically has a marketing tagline for everything.  

Overall, though, I find the aesthetic rather dull. Of course, that's not necessarily a dealbreaker, I'd pick function over form every time, but know that this isn't going to turn any heads at the cafe, especially in this off-white, basically-grey colourway.

The diagonal seatstay bridge is where the conversation continues, too, as hidden on its underside is a mount enabling the bike to fit full-length fenders (mudguards, to our British audience). The Allez might be popular as a 'first' road bike, but its a popular 'winter bike' too, for those who want to continue riding year round but don't want to accelerate the wear and tear on their best road bike with road grime and salt. 

This audience also wants a bike that is durable, cheap to service, and can take wide tyres, but at the top of that list of requirements is the ability to take mudguards. The Allez meets those criteria well.

It has clearance for 35mm tyres (32mm with mudguards), albeit the bike is supplied with 30mm Specialized Roadsport tyres. These are fitted to Specialized's own tubeless-ready Axis Sport alloy wheels, which are fairly heavy but otherwise pretty bombproof. 

The wheels would be early on my list of upgrades, were I to buy this bike. I'm fortunate enough to have a few sets of road wheels at my disposal, and as part of testing the Allez Sport I swapped in some aero and lightweight carbon wheels in turn. It was hardly a surprise that they brought a significant performance increase –
you'd hope so, given they more than doubled the value of the bike – but they also highlighted the performance capability of the entry-level alloy frame and how it was a great platform for upgrading. 

Moving back to the base spec, the Allez Sport is equipped with a 2x10-speed Shimano Tiagra disc-brake groupset. This might be a little way behind the 12-speed groupsets that dominate the upper end of the bike market, but it still offers powerful braking, light-action shifting, comfortable ergonomics, and a safe spread of gears with its 50/34T chainset and 11-32T cassette. Continuing the trend, the Tiagra groupset will be easy and relatively cheap to service, with parts likely to remain available for decades to come. 

Up front, my 58cm frame is fitted with a 100mm stem and 42cm bars, both of which are entry level alloy spec. Finishing off the build is a Specialized Bridge saddle; the shape of which is neutral enough to likely be comfortable for a wide range of people, but of course, saddle comfort is personal so no guarantees here. 

All combined, the bike weighs 9.8kg in my size 58cm without bottle cages or pedals. This isn't going to win any weight-weenie competitions, but it's pretty reasonable for bikes of this price, with a similarly specced Trek Domane coming in at 900g heavier, and a Giant Contend AL 2 being somewhere between the two. 

Performance: Ride impressions

With its relatively upright riding position, budget-friendly tyres and wider-than-I'm-used-to bars, I was expecting the ride quality of the Allez to be slow, uninspiring, perhaps even dull, but in reality, it wasn't.  

Cornering is precise, but with the long wheelbase and wide tyres, it is stable and confident. 

My local bike path has a few tight chicanes that I often need to brake coming into, especially on unfamiliar bikes. With the Allez and a few days of dry weather behind me, I felt confident enough to hit them at cruising speed and it handled them without any fuss. 

Power transfer never posed an issue, either. There's more than enough stiffness in the aluminium frame to feel sprightly when accelerating, meaning it is quick to get up to speed when you need it to. That same stiffness helped when punching up sharper climbs, too. It's not the lightest at 9.5kg, but it responded well to my pedalling input and would eat up short sharp inclines well. 

Luckily, that stiffness didn't translate into discomfort when churning out longer-distance rides. No doubt aided by the 30mm tyres and the more relaxed riding position, the ride quality felt nicely damped. I did find that this also led to a fairly underwhelming ride. It was a willing partner whenever I chose to attack up short hills or sprint for town signs, but it rarely inspired me to do so for the fun of it. 

I also found that it was arduous to keep things rolling along at higher speeds, for which I largely blame the budget tyres (a relatively cheap upgrade) and the upright position. This was slightly improved when I dropped the stem to a lower position on the steerer tube, putting me into a lower more aerodynamic position. 

It was also improved when I swapped in the wheel and tyre upgrade. It's reassuring to me that the speed isn't an inherent issue with the frame itself, despite the lack of aero profiling to the frame tubes, but bear in mind that these changes won't be straightforward for everyone. The former will come with bike fit implications that might not work for you, and the latter will come with a financial outlay. 

I found the Shimano Tiagra groupset performed well, with light-action mechanical shifting and powerful hydraulic disc brakes. 

Up front, the chainset offers a fairly common 50/34T chainring configuration. It's only 10-speed at the rear, which might seem dated in an age where competitors are already using 12 and 13 sprockets, but the overall range is still totally fine in most scenarios. I did find on a couple of longer climbs that I wanted one more gear, and knowing that Tiagra can handle a 34T cassette, it seems like an omission to spec the 32T as standard. This isn't a dealbreaker though, and it would be a low cost upgrade, but one I'd recommend making if you live in a hilly area. 

It's also here where the major differentiation can be found between the two available Allez models, with the lower-spec Allez base model getting a 2x8-speed Shimano Claris groupset and mechanical disc brakes. 

Value

Specialized admits it was never interested in entering a price war with the Allez, and you can certainly get better specced bikes for the same price or less. 

For example, Ribble's Endurance AL Disc comes in at £1,499 with Shimano's next groupset up, 11-speed 105 mechanical. Canyon's Endurace 6 with Tiagra will set you back just £1,199, or for just £350 more than the price of this Allez, you can upgrade to a carbon fibre frame with Canyon's Endurace CF 7. 

In part, those competitive prices come thanks to their direct-to-consumer business models. For Canyon especially, that makes the purchase process an almost entirely online prospect, and while it does run demo events and offer comprehensive support, I believe there's a huge amount of value to be found in the advice that a local shop can provide, especially to entry-level cyclists. 

It's also reassuring to know that your local store will be able to handle any warranty or repair should something go wrong. But of course, only you can judge whether that added value is worth the added upfront cost for you. 

It's also worth adding that Specialized isn't out on its own at the higher price point. Trek's similarly-specced Domane will set you back a higher price of £1,625 with the older 4600 version of Tiagra, while Cannondale's Synapse is even more, at £1,650, with that same 4600 Tiagra groupset.

There are also spec considerations that add value too. The all-carbon fork is one, rather than an alloy steerer tube that you might get elsewhere; the full-length fenders are another; as is the neat trick employed at the seatpost clamp to double up as a rack mount. 

And as I've already mentioned, Specialized has done well to ensure the ongoing costs of the Allez will remain reasonable, so you won't be hit with a huge unexpected servicing bill in two years' time. 

Verdict

On paper, there are better-value bikes available from direct to consumer brands, but that's nothing really new. Specialized rarely looks like the best value option if that's how you frame your purchase. But when you factor in the small details, local bike shop value and after-sale support, you might be tempted. 

If you are, you'll get a bike that's sprightly yet surefooted, stiff yet comfortable, and wonderfully equipped to be the versatile one-bike solution for a variety of riding scenarios. You'll also get a bike that's prime for upgrading and improving as your passion for cycling grows. 

To answer the earlier question of whether the 2024 Specialized Allez meets its unusual responsibility for 'onboarding' new cyclists into the sport, I'd say it's a safe bet. 

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