The Specialized 'Made in Racing' Experience has touched down in Glasgow, Scotland to celebrate the 2023 UCI World Cycling Championships and doors opened at the City Halls & Old Fruitmarket in time for the Men's Elite Road race with the best road racers in the world passing close by the stunning Specialized event.
(Image credit: Paul Brett)
Featuring an incredible selection of the brand's most iconic winning machines, a wind tunnel experience dubbed the 'Win Tunnel', and the opportunity to meet some of the best riders from the Specialized camp including Peter Sagan, Remco Evenepoel, Tour de France Femmes winner Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky and other members of the most successful women's cycling team, SD Worx.
There is also the opportunity to get up close to the all-new Specialized S-Works Tarmac SL8, launched and raced by select riders including the defending world champion Remco Evenpoel on men’s road race day.
I checked out the Specialized 'Made in Racing' Experience on the day it opened.
First up was the historical selection of race winning road bikes including Vincenzo Nibali's 2015 Tarmac SL5. This bike was the first Tarmac to be built around the Rider-First Engineered philosophy, which saw each size based on specific stiffness targets using data acquired during real-world testing with the best riders in the world.
The SL5, says Specialized is the 'winningest Tarmac of all time' boasting a Tour De France win, the Vuelta a España and two World Championships.
Sitting next to Nibali's SL5 was the S-Works E5 from 2002, ridden by Italian Mario Cipollini. The Italian sprinter and the E5 took the top spot at both that year's Milan-San Remo and World Championships. Specialized developed the first Tarmac from the E5 alloy which it says was the catalyst for the brand's unprecedented success on the global racing stage.
Mario Cippolini's 2002 S-Works E5
(Image credit: Paul Brett)
The exhibition goes full circle from those early bikes right through to Remco Evenepoel's World Championship winning machine from last year in Australia, and to the Tarmac SL8 that was revealed on the day of the Men's World Championships race. The new SL8 was on display in the 'Win Tunnel' and as part of the experience visitors can enter the wind tunnel specially set up for the world championships.
Remco Evenepoel's 2022 world championship winning Specialized Tarmac SL7
(Image credit: Paul Brett)
The real 'Win Tunnel' is the lynchpin of the Specialized aero operation, designed and built to the highest standards and, as a result, it says the world's finest cycling-specific wind tunnel.
Optimised for speed, the ‘Win Tunnel’ at Specialized's Morgan Hill facility in California is large enough to allow for multiple testing at once, simulating group situations, like the peloton or a team time trial. It also allows not just bikes but also helmets, clothing, and everything in between.
(Image credit: Paul Brett)
The Glasgow 'Win Tunnel' is a replica of the Morgan Hill version and as the lights go off, and with my special Specialized eye protection on, the wind turbines fire up and I feel the full force of the wind tunnel in action.
It's quite the thrill as the wind blasts through my clothes and hair, almost lifting my feet off the ground. However, the Tarmac SL8 that's in with you remains firmly planted to the ground! Once the turbines slow and you exit the wind tunnel, you can view your wind tunnel experience and download the image via a QR code scan.
The Specialized 'Made in Racing' Experience runs until 13th of August at the City Halls & Old Fruitmarket, 100 Candleriggs, Glasgow, G1 1NQ. Open daily from 10.00-16.00 confirmed athlete signing so far are:
August 6th, 15:00 - 17:00 - Specialized Gravity Team, including
Loic Bruni, Finn Iles, and Jordan Williams
August 7th, 16:00 to 17:00 - Peter Sagan and Remco Evenepoel
August 11th, 16:00-17:00 - Demi Vollering, Lotte Kopecky, and Team SD Worx
Thank you for reading 20 articles this month* Join now for unlimited access
Paul Brett is a deals writer for Cycling Weekly and has been cycling for as long as he can remember, initially catching the mountain biking bug in the 1990s, he raced mountain bikes for over a decade. An award-winning photographer, when not riding a bike, he can be found at the side of a road world championship or a cyclocross track shooting the action. Paul was the founder, editor and writer of Proper Cycling magazine, and he's travelled the world interviewing some of the top personalities in cycling and writing about some of the biggest cycling brands.
