Specialised is preparing for the heavy a part of gravel season and is rolling out some gear that may make you query your setup for race day. After discovering success within the classics and gravel races, the Specialised S-Works Mondo tire is hitting the cabinets simply in time for Unbound, BWR, and your favourite gravel race.

third Paris-Roubaix Femmes (1.WWT) At some point race: Denain – Roubaix (145.4km)
Photograph: Eloise Mavian / Tornanti.cc
That’s not all, although; we’ve seen a brand new 3D saddle floating across the SD-Works and different Specialised sponsored groups, and it’s lastly obtainable for the lots — the Specialised Romin EVO Professional with Mirror expertise.
Specialised S-Works Mondo Tires

The Specialised Mondo tire is a mix of street, gravel, and exploration design. The group at Specialised regarded to create a tire that may carry out for longer miles, on rougher roads, in unhealthy climate, and roll on grime and gravel.

Why not replace the Specialised Armadillo? The tire is arguably one of the crucial properly know endurance and trusted puncture-protective, higher-level efficiency tires round. Properly — the group at Specialised determined that puncture safety and lengthy tread life aren’t sufficient; riders now require the next degree of efficiency together with the aforementioned.

Plus — in relation to race day, they don’t need to change out their well-known coaching tires for ones that aren’t second nature to them. Mainly, a tire that may go wherever, do something, no “splitting the distinction,” simply efficiency and reliability… straightforward proper?
Mondo Efficiency

The S-Works Mondo tires have 11% much less rolling resistance than the earlier class-leading Specialised tire. Like most beneficial properties in tire efficiency, a secret compound is concerned, Specialised proprietary Gription.

The up to date Gripton compounds run on a scale from ultra-efficient and sturdy T2 street compounds to the tremendous cheesy T9 mountain compound — T5 lands proper within the center as a balanced combine. Most profitable Specialised tires make use of a mixture of the 2 for effectivity and traction.

For the Mondo, the design group used the twin compound that includes T2 within the middle, flanked by the moist and dry grip of the T5 compound on the shoulders. This is similar twin compound that debuted in a World Street Championship, the Specialised Turbo race tires.

The formulation makes use of a mixture of activated Silica and Specialised T2 Gripton, delivering a vigorous, quick tire, 17% sooner than the Specialised T5 compound on in-house rolling resistance check drum exams. For corning grip, the group used the softer activated Silica T5 Gripton compound (which affords 10% extra grip than the T2 compound). This compound change permits the Mondo to sink into the street, offering a planted feeling for cornering pace.
Specialised Finest Puncture Safety

third Paris-Roubaix Femmes (1.WWT) At some point race: Denain – Roubaix (145.4km)
Photograph: Eloise Mavian / Tornanti.cc
Blackbelt safety is a standard characteristic on Speclizeds endurance tires. For the Mondo, the tire group up to date the safety belt, giving it a dense, sturdy cross-woven aramid materials that delivers 12% extra puncture safety than the earlier Blackbelt choices. Simply so as to add slightly additional, the group added a brand new Grid Race safety just like that on its mountain bike tires.

This twin layer of cross-woven polyamide panels is utilized on the aspect wall, and regardless of its supple and versatile nature, its excessive tear energy mates unbelievable sturdiness with a secure, assured experience at low tire pressures.
Why completely different supplies on the breaker and the aspect wall? Specialised explains: “It’s as a result of every a part of the tire performs a special function in creating the tire’s total efficiency. There are a whole bunch of supplies to select from, and 0.5 mm of an excessive amount of materials, or the unsuitable materials within the unsuitable place, can destroy a tire’s experience high quality or make it susceptible to flats. Blackbelt, underneath the tread, should be dense and robust to keep away from punctures.”

Does added safety imply extra weight? The S-Works Mondo is 5% lighter than the closest endurance competitors. It runs on a supple 120 TPI casing and tubeless-ready development, making the Mondo tire an amazing mixture of operate and quick.
The brand new Mondo is hookless prepared, and Specliazed claims it’s sturdy sufficient for pressures on hooked rims increased than any hookless rims can attain. That is all to make sure riders have the flexibleness to run the strain they really feel is correct when utilizing hooked rims.
First Impressions
We acquired an early pattern of the S-Works Mondo tire within the 700c x 32mm measurement. The one bike/wheel mixture Zach had that will match the tires was his Why PR at the moment fitted with Bontrager Aeolus RSL 62 wheels.

The body is constructed with a Whisky carbon street fork, each of which listing their tire clearance as 700c x 32mm. Fortuitously, that appears to be a really conservative quantity because the tires grew to 33.96mm after a couple of days whereas mounted to the 23mm inside rims. That makes us surprise how huge that 35mm tire would actually be!

Mounting the tires was pretty simple, even when they have been pretty tight and proof against flattening out after being faraway from the packaging. A fast blast of air, they usually seated instantly with none fuss.

Our preliminary rides have yielded a tire that appears to get sooner with every use, although we’re nonetheless dialing in experience pressures to search out the candy spot — keep tuned for a full evaluate.
Specialised S-Works Mondo Tire Specs

- Casing: 120 TPI
- Bead: Foldable 2Bliss Prepared
- Twin Compound: GRIPTON® T2/T5
- Sizes: Out there in 28, 32, and beefy 35 mm widths
- 700 x 28 mm, psi 70-95, approximate weight 310g
- 700 x 32 mm, psi 50-80, approximate weight 330g
- 700 x 35 mm, psi 50-80, approximate weight 360g
Flat Safety: GRID RACE and BlackBelt - Value: $80
Out there Now at your native store and on-line
Specialised Romin EVO Professional with Mirror

Together with releasing the brand new Mondo tires, the Specialised Romin EVO will get the Professional therapy simply in time for summer time. The Romin EVO Professional with Mirror now has a nylon, reclaimed carbon fiber shell, and hole Ti rails. Utilizing this materials takes the value down barely from $450 (S-Works) to $325 (Professional EVO).

The Romin EVO has been a favourite for all disciplines. The design is a conventional lengthy form designed to assist relieve strain in an aggressive place permitting freedom of motion.

Pair that basic design with the 22,200 struts and 10,700 nodes of 3D-printed consolation of Specialised Mirror expertise, and you’ve got a profitable combo (for many).

For these questioning — The Romin EVO Professional with Mirror makes use of the identical 3D printed pad because the S-Works model. The one distinction is the nylon, reclaimed carbon fiber shell, and hole Ti rails.
Specialised Romin EVO Professional with Mirror Particulars

- Sizes: 143 Width: 234g, 155 Width: 237g
- Value: $325
- Out there Now at your native store and on-line
We’ve had restricted time on the Romin EVO Professional, however look out for a full evaluate quickly. For extra details about the Specliaized Mondo and Romin EVO Professional, try: Specialised.com.