2025 Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 SRAM RED AXS Road Bike

£12,000.00

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The 2025 Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8 SRAM RED AXS Road Bike delivers speed through an uncompromising combination of aerodynamics, lightweight, stiffness, and compliance. Through race simulations using real world data Specialized's Ride Science team knows the Tarmac SL8 is the fastest race bike ever made on the routes that matter - 16.6 seconds faster over 40km, 128 seconds faster over Milan San Remo, 20 seconds faster over the legendary Tourmalet climb.

The Tarmac SL8 took learnings from the Specialized Aethos to be easily built at the UCI minimum with a full aero set up. The team delivered a mind bending, scale tickling 685 gram frame - 15% lighter than the Tarmac SL7 and lighter than anything on else on the World Tour. Clean air is optimized for maximum advantage with the Tarmac’s new nose cone - the Speed Sniffer. By moving the steer tube back - the tube that determines head tube width - the leading edge of the head tube can be much sharper, delivering a much lower drag shape.

The S-Works Tarmac SL8 is spec’d with only the best components. A full SRAM RED AXS groupset with power meter - the lightest electronic groupset ever - and a Roval Rapide CLX II tubeless-ready wheelset are the perfect complement to the world’s fastest frame. All S-Works Tarmac SL8 models ship with a Roval Rapide cockpit to save weight and for the fastest possible leading edge.

This bike is perfect for

Road racers who want the best combination of lightweight and aero performance. Built to be fast in the real world and win World Tour stages.

Key Features

  • S-Works Tarmac SL8 FACT 12r Carbon Frame
  • NEW SRAM RED 12-speed Groupset with Power Meter
  • Roval Rapide CLX II Carbon Wheels
  • Total Weight 6.66 kg (14 lb, 10.9 oz) for size 56cm

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.

Frame S-Works Tarmac SL8 FACT 12r Carbon, Rider First Engineered™, Win Tunnel Engineered, Clean Routing, Threaded BB, 12x142mm thru-axle, flat-mount disc
Fork S-Works FACT 12r Carbon, 12x100mm thru-axle, flat-mount disc
Crankset NEW SRAM RED AXS Power Meter
Chain NEW SRAM RED 12-speed
Cassette NEW SRAM RED XG-1290, 12-speed, 10-33t
Shift Levers NEW SRAM RED AXS, hydraulic disc
Front Derailleur NEW SRAM RED AXS, braze-on
Rear Derailleur NEW SRAM RED AXS, 12-speed
Front Brake NEW SRAM RED AXS, hydraulic disc 160mm rotor
Rear Brake NEW SRAM RED AXS, hydraulic disc 160mm rotor
Front Wheel Roval Rapide CLX II, Tubeless, 21mm internal width carbon rim, 51mm depth, Win Tunnel Engineered, Roval AFD hub, 18h, DT Swiss Aerolite spokes
Rear Wheel Roval Rapide CLX II, Tubeless, 21mm internal width carbon rim, 60mm depth, Win Tunnel Engineered, Roval AFD hub, 24h, DT Swiss Aerolite spokes
Front Tyre S-works Turbo Rapidair 2BR, 700x26mm
Rear Tyre S-works Turbo Rapidair 2BR, 700x26mm
Handlebars Roval Rapide Cockpit, Integrated Bar/Stem
Saddle S-Works Power with Mirror
Seat Post S-Works Tarmac SL8 Carbon seat post, FACT Carbon, 15mm offset
Seat Binder Tarmac Integrated Wedge
Inner Tubes Turbo Ultralight, 60mm Front, 80mm Rear, Presta valve
Chain Rings 48/35
Bottom Bracket SRAM DUB BSA 68
Stem Roval Rapide Cockpit, Integrated Bar/Stem
Tape Supacaz Super Sticky Kush
Colours Gloss Cypress Metallic / Magenta To Gold Pearl / Satin Black Metallic, Gloss Solidity / Red To Black Pearl / Metallic White Silver
Sizes 44, 49, 52, 54, 58, 61
Brand Specialized
Model Year 2025
Barcodes 196625028915, 196625029295, 196625029745, 196625030017, 196625030246, 196625030727, 196625030888, 196625031021, 196625031076, 196625031465, 196625031618
SKUs / Part Numbers 90625-0044, 90625-0049, 90625-0052, 90625-0054, 90625-0058, 90625-0061, 90625-0149, 90625-0152, 90625-0154, 90625-0156, 90625-0158

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

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