I have Ortlieb Backrollers. You did not eff up, as Ortlieb makes awesome panniers. I don't think I have ever heard of anyone regretting an Ortlieb purchase, although I am sure such a lunatic exists.

Depending on your rack selection, frame size, and foot size, you may or may not have heel strike issues. All of these factors can be mitigated with hardware, rack selection, and pannier positioning. The Ortlieb QL2 fitting system makes easy, short work of positioning and securing the pannier just about anywhere fore/aft on the rack.

Regarding your original question, I think you'll be happy with a Tubus rack provided it actually fits on your Specialized Allez. Does it have braze-ons for a rack mount? If you don't want to spend that much money, there is also the Axiom Streamliner DLX. I recently installed this rack on my road bike and I am very impressed with its build and profile. The really nice aspect of this rack is that it is very narrow at the top, making for a sleeker look that goes well on a road bike, similar to a Tubus Fly.

My one caveat about Axiom racks is that they grossly overestimate the load capacity. I have had Axiom racks in the past that I loaded to their listed rating and the rack bent. Granted, I was deliberately testing out the weight claim and expected exactly what I got. S