Named the S-Works Tarmac SL, this sub-1.2 kilo superlight newbie (both frame and fork) is not only to be lighter, but considerably stiffer and more road compliant than the original Tarmac, according to Specialized. "Lighter, stiffer and more compliant; together they're not the easiest engineering parameters," said Specialized's advanced R&D expert Chris D'Alusio to Cyclingnews .

"But we feel we've achieved that [with the Tarmac SL]," he added, before Specialized's founder and president, Mike Sinyard, told Cyclingnews we were the first to get a sneak-peek of the bike outside of their own family. "The arcing top tube and S-bend seat stays are designed to minimise 'bump forces', while one only needs to look at the downtube to see where improvements in stiffness have been made."

Speaking of stiffness, brand manager Ben Capron told Cyclingnews the modulus of stiffness (measured in Gigapascals) increased to 390 GPa from its predecessor, also mentioning that the Tarmac's already high 294 GPa rating surpassed virtually every other production bicycle available.

Besides using a lighter, stiffer carbon and variable layering technique for each tube (as well as varying diameters based on frame size), Capron added another 40 grams was saved by excluding the ostensibly cosmetic carbon weave. "What's left is just muscle and sinew... actually, the Tarmac SL isn't really that different from Levi and Totschnig," he said.

Said Leipheimer about his new steed, "I knew the guys at Specialized had