Specialized 2012

Last Sunday was the first weekend day that felt like spring to me, so I filled a couple of big bottles, put on some shiny new kit and headed out on the Specialized Allez Comp for my first 100-miler of the year. After a few hours on the back roads of Wiltshire and Berkshire, I came home thinking that this is a really neat, value-packed bike that deserves some serious consideration.

Specialized's Body Geometry Ruby Expert saddle is one of those rare beasts a lightweight women's specific performance saddle that's available in a choice of widths including a properly narrow 130mm to suit your style of riding and just as importantly your sit bones too.

The Crux is a rare beast; a thousand pound cyclo-cross bike that's designed for actual cyclo-cross. It's not a jack-of-all-trades utility bike dressed up as a CX bike but a 'cross bike that's designed for what cyclo-cross really is - racing.