Terrific bike. I've ridden one and liked it over the Venge but didn't buy. But I ride a women's bike. I believe if it fits it doesn't matter. Gender specific is simply more marketing manipulation IMO. Enjoy your new ride.

I'd bet that when you do your fitting work, you'll discover if there are any changes you'd like to make at the contact points. Assuming that the frame's effective top tube and stem reach are okay, you may take a look at the handlebar width (check the specifications between the models for men and women) if that feels like an issue. Saddle type? You'd probably have changed that to suit your preference anyway...

I expect that you will love your new bike.

I have a 2016 Tarmac. It's an awesome bike and I hear the new ones are even better.

If your Tarmac is a 2018, the frame is the same for men and women (Specialized made a big deal out of it at launch). But yeah maybe the components (handlebar, stem, saddle, etc.) are different.


Geoff

I suspect that as long as you can stand over the top tube OK (?), it's a good starting point... Then comes seat post w/wo set-back, stem length and angle, lastly the bars.

Having ridden motorcycles for almost as long as I have ridden bikes (both over 50 years), I just can't do wrong bars. My wrists complain. Your shoulders and your lower back will tell you when it's all starting to come together

"If your Tarmac is a 2018, the frame is the same for men and women (Specialized made a big deal out of it at launch). "

Does this mean that gender specific designs are no more than marketing BS?

Comparing the 52cm models, the mens and womens appear to be identical. The Women's frame comes in sizes all the way down to 44 and only goes up to 56, whereas men's are available from 49 to 61...

Weird. They used to shorten the top tube a little on the women's bikes, at least when we bought my wife's bike 8 years ago. "Pink it and shrink it" for the win!

not weird.. more cost-savings in the manufacturing line

Specialized’s rationale was based on all the data they obtained from Retül, which they somewhat recently purchased.

I wouldn’t say it’s based in marketing... Each company tries to do the best they can based on data and know-how available, and that happens to be where Specialized is at this time worth noting also that Specialized now does size-specific adjustments (rider first They call it?) so I’m wondering if that negated in part the need for gender-specific attributes...


Geoff