2023 Specialized Aethos Expert Road Bike

From £6,000.00
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The 2023 Specialized Aethos Expert Road Bike has been designed to straddle the line between a perfected ride quality, extreme light weight, and undeniable style.

The Aethos frame has been designed with the perfect combination of ultimate ride feel, light weight, and style—from accelerating up steep pitches and descending technical descents, to all-day saddle comfort on even the longest coffee rides, the Aethos hits the mark. But how, you ask? By reinventing the traditional road shape found on bikes of the past, Specialized have subtly altered these shapes to deliver massive gains in stiffness and balance, all without affecting weight or durability. Pair that with an entirely new layup and you have the lightest frame out there (585 grams, S-Works, size 56cm).

With wireless SRAM Rival eTap AXS electronic shifting and hydraulic disc brakes paired with bomb-proof Roval C38 Disc carbon wheels, you have the perfect steed to get you out on the road.

This bike is perfect for

Road riders looking for a lightweight climbing bike which excels in the mountains but also has the handling a comfort you need to all-day adventures.

Key Features
  • A featherweight frame is useless without confidence-inspiring ride characteristics, which is why we’ve developed the Aethos to have the perfect balance of front and rear stiffness combined with exceptional ride quality. By studying the flexing and breathing of carbon fiber, we were able to discover groundbreaking findings about how forces flow through frames. Just a few pedal strokes and you’ll realize this sublime ride sets a new standard.
  • Every detail, from the derailleur hangers to the fork expander plug have been designed with style, weight, and durability in mind. We’ve also spec’d it with Roval’s all-new Alpinist carbon seatpost, further saving weight and improving ride characteristics. Everything in pursuit for the perfect ride.

Guide To Road Bike Gears

If you are buying a road bike one of the big differences between models will be which gears they use. Most manufacturers will make the same bike, using the same frame but putting different gears and wheels on it. So for instance you can buy a Trek Domane AL 2 Disc with Shimano Claris gearing for £975 or get the Trek Domane AL 4 Disc with Tiagra gearing for £1625. They are fundamentally the same bike. One comes with the Shimano Tiagra gears and the other comes with Shimano Claris gears.

In most cases, the bottom of the range gears and top of the range gears will basically work in the same way. The big differences are in the quality of material used and the weight. Top of the range gears will be lighter and smoother to use.

One thing to watch out for when comparing bikes is whether the full groupset is being used. If you are buying a bike that has Shimano 105 gears on it. Shimano makes 105 brakes, gear levers, front and rear derailleurs, cranks, chainrings and bottom brackets. So basically all of the running gear on the bike. Some bike manufacturers will fit the full groupset, others will fit Shimano 105 front and rear derailleurs but use their own brakes and cranks to save a few pounds. So if you are comparing bikes be sure to check how much of the groupset the bike actually uses.


Read our Guide to Road Bike Gears

Road Bike Buying Guide

Nothing beats the feeling of effortless speed you get on a road bike. There are lots of reasons to ride a road bike, from the simple joy of it, to racing, long distance challenges, or café rides with friends. Whatever you want to do there will be road bike out there for you.

Men’s and Women’s road bikes

Nearly all manufacturers have stopped making dedicated men’s and women’s bikes. They are now all unisex. What you will see is that on smaller bikes, brands will often fit a wider saddle (generally more female friendly). On larger bikes they will often fit a narrower one (generally more male friendly).

Disc or rim brakes

It is getting increasingly hard to buy new bikes with rim brakes as the industry has almost exclusively switched to discs. The reasons for this are pretty simple. Disc brakes are much, much, more powerful than old rim brake systems so you can stop a lot more easily and safely. Disc brakes also allow much bigger tyres to be fitted which is more comfortable. Older disc brake systems did often suffer from rubbing and squeaking. While this hasn’t been completely fixed yet it is much less common on modern bikes with hydraulic brakes. Mechanical disc brakes can still take a bit of fettling to get them right so go for hydraulic if you can.

Read our full road bike buying guide


Who are Specialized?

Specialized is one of the best-known quality bike brands in the world. Started by a group of riders in 1974. A fact which has guided their decision making ever since.

" Made for riders, by riders."

They strove to make the best quality tires when quality tyres weren't around. When people wanted to ride cruisers in the dirt, they made the first production mountain bike. When roadies wanted to go faster, Specialized doubled down on carbon and built their own wind tunnel.

Bikes like the Allez, Rockhopper and Stumpjumper have developed followings and reputations of their own. Specialized has a reputation for making high-end, high-quality bikes. Specialized bikes always look great with high-quality paint and sensible sizing hel0s you get the right bike each time. If you buy a Specialized bike you can be guaranteed it will do what it is supposed to and will last.


Find our more about Specialized bikes

Price Match at Cycles uk

We understand that price is important, so we regularly price-check our competitors to make sure we have the best offers available. We recognise that we will not always be the cheapest, so if you see the same product cheaper from any of our competitors then please get in touch via the form below and we will do our best to match any reasonable advertised price.

FrameAethos FACT 10R Carbon, Rider First Engineeredâ„¢, Threaded BB, 12x142mm thru-axle, flat-mount disc
ForkFACT Carbon, 12x100mm thru-axle, flat-mount disc
HandlebarsSpecialized Expert Shallow Drop, alloy, 125mm drop x 75mm reach
StemSpecialized Pro SL, alloy, 4-bolt
TapeSupacaz Super Sticky Kush
SeatPostRoval Alpinist Carbon Seatpost
Seat BinderSpecialized Alloy, 30mm
Front BrakeSRAM Rival eTAP AXS, hydraulic disc
Rear BrakeSRAM Rival eTAP AXS, hydraulic disc
Shift LeversSRAM Rival eTap AXS
Front DerailleurSRAM Rival eTAP AXS, braze-on
Rear DerailleurSRAM Rival eTap AXS, 12-speed
CassetteSRAM Rival, 12-speed, 10-36t
CranksetSRAM Rival
Chainrings48/35T
Bottom BracketSRAM DUB BSA 68
ChainSRAM Rival 12-speed
Front WheelRoval C38, 21mm internal width carbon rim
Rear WheelRoval C38, 21mm internal width carbon rim
Front TireS-Works Turbo, 120 TPI, folding bead, BlackBelt protection, 700x28mm
Rear TireS-Works Turbo, 120 TPI, folding bead, BlackBelt protection, 700x28mm
SaddleBody Geometry Power Expert
Inner Tubes700x20-28, 48mm Presta Valve
Colours Gloss Dune White/Metallic Obsidian, Satin Metallic Deep Lake/Deep Lake
Sizes 49, 52, 54, 56, 58, 61
Brand Specialized
Model Year 2023
Barcodes 196625115981, 196625116087, 196625116094, 196625116148, 196625116247, 196625116292, 196625116322, 196625116360, 196625116438, 196625116513, 196625116551, 196625116650
SKUs / Part Numbers 97223-3249, 97223-3252, 97223-3254, 97223-3256, 97223-3258, 97223-3261, 97223-3349, 97223-3352, 97223-3354, 97223-3356, 97223-3358, 97223-3361

Please note: Manufacturers can sometimes change the specification of the products from time to time.

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