The 2023 Specialized Allez road bike has increased tyre clearance of 35mm and disc brakes. It’s competent for recreational riding and could easily be set up for commutes or light touring or gravel riding. Its stable handling and comfortable ride make steady outings enjoyable, but lacklustre finishing kit means the amount of excitement the bike provides is limited.
The base model Allez is priced at £1,100. The Allez Sport reviewed here costs £1,600, which feels like a large jump for a similar spec save for the upgraded 10-speed groupset and hydraulic disc brakes.
That said, the platform remains an excellent entry point as a cyclist’s first proper road bike. For full details on the new bike, check out our launch story on the revamped platform.
Specialized Allez development
The Allez has been part of Specialized’s range ever since 1981, with the frameset morphing from its original lugged steel to aluminium alloy.
While Specialized has moved to carbon fibre for its performance bikes, the Allez has remained staunchly an aluminium alloy all-rounder. Its ubiquity means it’s probably been the first proper road bike for more new riders than any other bike model.
The Allez last had a revamp in 2018, when it gained a more racy profile, but kept its rim brakes and space (just) for 28mm tyres. The new Specialized Allez brings things up to date though, with tyre clearance increasing to 35mm and a switch to disc brakes. It’s had a slight geometry tweak as well.
Specialized Allez frameset
The Allez continues the use of Specialized’s E5 aluminium alloy, as seen in its outgoing Allez and its other alloy bikes such as the Diverge E5 gravel bike. It’s paired with an all-carbon FACT fork with internal brake hose routing through the left fork leg.
The frame shape is similar to the older Allez, with a gently sloped top tube and dropped seatstays giving a racy profile. Specialized says it used its Retül bike fit database to refine the frame geometry, which is now the same as the Roubaix carbon endurance bike.
It says that a painted size 56cm frame weighs 1,375g, and claims that the new Allez is the lightest bike in its class.
The welds on the Allez frame, as with the old model, are quite chunky. Although they’re smoothed off they’re not as neat as the majority of those on alloy frames from a brand such as Boardman, for example.
Both the frame and fork have mounts for mudguards, although this reduces the frame’s 35mm clearance to 32mm; you can also add a rear rack for commuting duties. There’s a design flourish with the seatstay bridge welded at an angle between the two stays, although Specialized says that this is cosmetic rather than providing any mechanical advantages.
Brakes swap from rim to disc and there’s a corresponding exchange of quick release axles to thru-axles on the new bike.
Cables run internally through the slightly squared-off down tube, for a clean look that’s retained from the older model. Both the gear cables and rear brake hose run externally under the chainstays though. The stays are quite narrow behind the bottom bracket to provide the frame’s newfound wider tyre clearance.
Specialized Allez Sport build
Specialized offers the Allez in two specs, the base model and the Allez Sport tested here. It also still has the more expensive Allez Sprint in its range, which has a different, racier frameset.
The base model Allez is equipped with the same Shimano Claris 8-speed groupset as the previous model, but whereas the older Allez Sport was equipped with 9-speed Shimano Sora, the new bike has had an upgrade to 10-speed Shimano Tiagra.
This allows Specialized to provide hydraulic disc brakes, as Tiagra is the lowest-spec Shimano groupset to offer these in-series, rather than the mechanical disc brakes on the base model.
There’s a decent gear range, with the Allez Sport fitted with a Praxis 50/34t chainset paired with an 11-32t Sunrace cassette. That’s not quite as wide a range as offered by many modern road bikes though and Tiagra can accommodate an 11-34t cassette, providing a 1:1 lowest ratio. This would be an easy change to make when the time comes to replace the cassette if you did want a lower get-out gear.
The Allez and Allez Sport otherwise have the same component spec. The wheels are Specialized Axis Sport Disc, equipped with nominally 30mm Specialized Roadsport wire bead tyres. As is often the case, the tyres measure up broader than their specified width at 31.8mm.
Although the wheels are tubeless-ready, the tyres are not, offering another upgrade option once the supplied tyres need to be replaced.
Other finishing kit is also Specialized own brand. There’s a Body Geometry Bridge saddle with steel rails and a shallow central pressure relief channel. It sits on a standard 27.2mm round alloy seatpost.
The alloy Specialized Shallow Drop bars are 420mm wide on both size 54cm and 56cm bikes and are supported by a 100mm stem, again a fairly standard choice. Specialized fits bars from 360mm to 440mm wide and stems from 70mm to 110mm long across the range of seven sizes offered.
Specialized Allez Sport geometry
The geometry of the new model Allez is similar to the older model, although Specialized has made some changes in larger sized bikes. It says that the geometry now mirrors the Roubaix carbon endurance bike across the size range.
As with the older model, there’s a wide spread of sizes available, and the seven sizes from 44cm up to 61cm should accommodate the majority of potential riders. Specialized points out that the smallest frame size is smaller than many children’s bikes, making the Allez an option for a first proper drop bar bike for older kids.
The size 56 bike tested has a reach of 378mm, while its 590mm stack was augmented on the test bike by a 3cm cluster of spacers under the stem, further adding to the high and short geometry.
Riding the Specialized Allez Sport
Those geometry numbers give the Allez Sport a typical endurance bike ride position, with a heads-up seated posture that allows you to keep an eye on your surroundings and the traffic, and doesn’t put undue strain on your arms and back.
It’s a position that leaves a lot of your weight resting on the saddle. Fortunately, the Specialized Body Geometry Bridge saddle fitted is very comfortable. It’s got plenty of padding that protects your sitbones but is dense enough that you don’t sink into it. With the right pair of bib shorts, it’s not a saddle you notice or that gets uncomfortable, even on longer rides.
The Allez Sport’s handling mirrors the confidence-inspiring endurance geometry. It feels like a bike for steady climbing, rather than all-out KOM-bagging efforts. It’s stable and its tyres are grippy, but it’s just not lively enough to encourage more spirited efforts.
Likewise, on long, fast, straight descents the Allez Sport hums along well and feels steady on its wide tyres, but it’s difficult to maintain an extra edge of speed, despite the ease of keeping in the drops, thanks to the high front end and short reach to the bars. It handles trickier descents confidently as well, but that doesn’t mean it is the most exciting going downhill.
In a bike often selected by beginners, these aren’t bad qualities, allowing riders to enjoy cycling without needing to concentrate too much on their bike’s handling. It’s also useful for commutes, where keeping tabs on traffic rather than worrying about your bike is an advantage.
I suspect that an upgrade of the rather ponderous wheels, or even just higher performance tyres, would help to liven up the ride considerably.
Specialized notes that the wider tyres on the new model Allez allow riders to take on light gravel riding. I took the Allez Sport for a run down the Phoenix Trail, a disused railway line between Thame in Oxfordshire and Princes Risborough in Buckinghamshire.
The first part actually has better tarmac than most roads in the Chilterns, but towards the Princes Risborough end it descends into a damp unpaved surface with the occasional mudhole.
None of this taxed the Allez Sport. There’s plenty of grip from the Roadsport tyres, which have a low profile shoulder tread. The 32mm width allows you to keep tyre pressures to a level where there’s a reasonably wide contact patch for grip, without significant additional rolling resistance.
Specialized Allez Sport verdict
As an entry level road bike, the Allez Sport does its job well. It’s versatile and makes a good recreational machine that’s not edgy or awkward to ride. Set up with mudguards and a rack, it’s a bike that would serve well for commuting duties, while there’s clearance to add more aggressive tyres if you want to prioritise off-road action. It should also be a good bet for light touring on-road.
The Specialized Allez Sport offers reasonable value, although other brands seem to have done a better job at keeping prices under control during the recent period of rapid bike price increases than Specialized.
The £350 additional cost over the rim brake Allez Sport that we reviewed in December 2022 feels like quite a large jump, even if there’s a better groupset on the new bike. In contrast, the base model Allez has only increased in price by £100, but the Allez Sport now commands almost a 50 per cent premium over that spec.
What’s not clear is where an aspiring rider would go next in the Specialized range. The most obvious bike upgrade would be the Specialized Roubaix, which shares the Allez’s geometry. The base model Roubaix Sport retails at £3,500 and the Tarmac SL6 is a similar price, however, which feels like a sizeable step up from the Allez Sport, even if not of the same magnitude as to the £13,000 S-Works Roubaix.
- Buy the Specialized Allez Sport from specialized.com (£1,600, $1,800, €1,750, AU$2,500)
Specialized Allez Sport specs
| Price | £1,600, $1,800, €1,750, AU$2,500 |
| Brand | Specialized |
| Frame | Allez E5 |
| Fork | FACT Carbon |
| Weight | 9.8kg (56cm) |
| Sizes available | 44, 49, 52, 54, 56, 58, 61 |
| Levers | Shimano Tiagra R4720 |
| Brakes | Shimano Tiagra R4720 |
| Rear derailleur | Shimano Tiagra R4720 |
| Front derailleur | Shimano Tiagra R4720 |
| Crankset | Praxis Alba, 50/34t |
| Bottom bracket | Shimano BSA threaded |
| Cassette | Sunrace, 11-32t |
| Chain | KMC X10 |
| Wheels | Axis Sport Disc |
| Tyres | Specialized Roadsport, 30mm |
| Bars | Specialized Shallow Drop |
| Stem | Specialized alloy |
| Seatpost | Specialized alloy |
| Saddle | Body Geometry Bridge |
