Specialized Allez E5 Sport 2017

Forget 'entry level' or 'beginner's bike' tags, regardless of its price the Specialized Allez E5 Sport is an absolutely cracking race bike offering speed, composed handling and massive amounts of comfort for those rides when you want to go fast and long.

Ride

After 215km of Barry's Ball Buster audax I stepped off the Allez with the contented feeling of a good day's training in the legs but with no pain or discomfort anywhere else. Not bad from a bike with a full racing geometry and a body that's not used to spending eight hours saddle bound.

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I'd only taken the Allez out for a two hour spin about five days before but everything just felt right. The position, the way it handled; everything about the bike felt like I'd been riding it for thousands and thousands of miles.

I must admit I did change the saddle to an old fave and put some lighter wheels on just to knock the weight down a touch (the Superstar Components Pave 28's I tested back in 2015) but the Allez performed brilliantly throughout the day once again quashing that old fashioned idea of an aluminium alloy frame giving a harsh ride.

The handling is great, very controlled and neutral for those who maybe aren't maybe the most confident descenders but thanks to the amount of feedback through the frame and fork from where tyres meet tarmac you'll soon grow in confidence and ability.

That's the great thing about this bike, it kind of works with you. You can grow with it in terms of skill and confidence but even if you are a very experienced rider you can still climb aboard and be excited thanks to how responsive the Allez is. Okay the front end isn't as razor sharp in the really high speed, technical bends as some carbon fibre, mega money speed machines but unless you're riding them side by side you'll be hard pushed to notice.

The stack to reach ratio of this 54cm Allez is 1.41, that is race bike territory (endurance bikes normally come in around the 1.55 mark) and really allows you to get long and low into the drops for when you really want to get a move on.

Your centre of gravity just feels right and the Allez E5 Sport is a very flickable machine whether that is on a descent or at slower speeds through a town centre negotiating traffic and filtering.

The Allez is a stiff little thing too with hard acceleration or climbing not highlighting any major flex issues around the bottom bracket or headtube areas. At 9.44kg (20.8lb) the Allez is no lightweight but its ride quality belies its numbers on the scales.

Read more: 17 of the best 2017 road bikes under £1,000 — top choices for Cycle To Work scheme buyers

Frame and Fork

Specialized have always had their own branding for their different aluminium tubing and it's no different here. The E5 Premium is likely to be a common aluminium alloy like 6061or 7005 as found on most bikes at this price range. Specialized says it's been 'fully manipulated' which judging by the various curves and kinks means it's been hydroformed to create the shapes.

Specialized have kept things pretty traditional and simple too with a straight 1 1/8-inch steerer on the alloy/carbon fork and a threaded bottom bracket. That might compromise a little on overall stiffness but it does little to detract from the work the rest of the frame is doing.

The overall finish is very high though with smooth welds and pretty impressive paintjob. The red and black colour scheme makes the E5 Sport look much more expensive than its price tag.

Finishing Kit

At this price Shimano Sora might not look that great a deal, the Raleigh Criterium Sport has Tiagra for an extra £50, and B'Twin's Ultra 900 AF has a full 105 groupset and Askium wheels for £800.

Saying all of that though the latest Sora R3000 is absolutely brilliant with shifting as crisp and precise as the current Tiagra and barely distinguishable from that of 105.

The only downside is its nine speed range especially when pairing this bike's compact 50/34 chainset with a 11-32 cassette. The jumps between sprockets are pretty big and for me as a downhill speed freak and reluctant climber with a narrow cadence preference I want both of those extremities at either end of the cassette.

Hear are the gear ratios, for those who get excited about such things.

Other than that though the Sora stuff looks good and is hugely reliable, changing gear easily when under load.

The rest of the stuff is Specialized's own brand. Bar and stem wise you get an all alloy set up which works well, the bars have a compact drop for various hand positions plus the stem length felt spot on for the size of frame.

Out back you get an alloy seatpost with easy to tweak saddle position and a Toupe steel-railed seat. I admit I didn't really get on with its shape and firmness but after all saddles are a very personal thing.

The wheels and tyres are also from Specialized and offer good performance when you consider the budget.

Starting with the rubber I found the Espoir Sport tyres a little on the sluggish side. They only have a 60tpi (threads per inch) construction which means they aren't that supple especially over rougher road surfaces where they just couldn't react to the bumps making for a jarring and muted ride.

With a wire bead they are also quite heavy too which takes its toll on acceleration. Puncture performance was good though and they'd be solid performers through the winter.

Wheels wise, again things are more about reliability than performance with the Axis Sport wheels but they rolled well and didn't feel massively heavy. Changing to some lighter wheels like I did with the Pave 28's made a massive difference to how the Allez responded to your efforts so I'd say if you want for a little more speed this is the first place you should look.

Axis also provide the dual pivot brake calipers and although still not brilliant they are among the best own brand stoppers I've used. They just lack the bite of, say, Shimano's 105 calipers to really make you feel confident flying into that next bend.

Value

Well, I've already touched on this above with regards to the Raleigh Criterium Sport and B'Twin Ultra in terms of spec list but the more bikes you ride you soon realise that components are such a small part of the equation. They are the icing on the cake if you like; a mediocre frame won't be made better by chucking lighter and more expensive parts at it though a good frame just works with whatever is bolted on.

The Specialized Allez is the latter, it's a brilliant package as it is but by upgrading things over time you will end up with an awesome bike. A machine that'll grow with you as your ability and fitness increase you can justify those little treats to turn this thing into a bike that will really challenge those with a tag twice the price.

Verdict

Awesome speed machine for the racer on a budget and anyone else who likes to go fast