Women's Tarmac SL6 Expert

It might be born to race but the Women's Tarmac Expert is also a bike that proves you don't need to sell the family silver for a luxurious ride. The Women's Tarmac hits the heights in every single area of road riding, whether it's grinding out climbs or putting the power through the pedals in the sprint so don't be surprised if you're grinning ear-to-ear every time you finish a ride.

We've brought the frame weight down to around 950 grams by using advanced aerospace composite optimisation software, completely rethinking the construction and layup of our FACT 10r carbon fibre. It's the most advanced material and schedule we've ever made. Optimising the material, shape and schedule means we can shave off 200 grams, or around 20% off the frame weight, making it perfect for smashing your hill climb PBs.

We've also dug in and found ways to improve our Rider-First Engineered technology, so we can ensure stiffness and compliance in all the right places. We've also revamped the geometry thanks to countless Retl data points as well as input from professional riders. All these inputs come together in what we think is the ultimate performance road geometry, combining a snappy front end and short wheelbase for incredibly responsive handling and optimal power transfer.

While stiffness might be all the rage, we didn't forget to build in a bit of compliance to ensure an enjoyable ride that won't leave you walking with a hunch for the two days after a long ride. We designed a seat post that has compliance built-in over the top 120mm (away from the seat post clamp, naturally). We also dropped the seat stays and gave the seat tube a new shape. Finally, in pursuit of a bit more comfort we upped the tyre clearance to 30mm so you can fit in a 28mm Turbo Cotton on a Roval SLX 24 rim.

Those bigger tyres mean you can get decreased rolling resistance as well as increased traction and improved comfort, meaning the Tarmac remains a fearsome racing machine, but one that can take the sting out of rougher road surface something we're sure you'll thank us for at the end of your next long day in the saddle.

The last and most important piece of the puzzle when it comes to making you faster is aerodynamics. Our pro riders on Boels-Dolmans are always hassling us to give them aero improvements on every bike, and with this Tarmac we spent six months hunting for the best ways of getting free' aero advantages without taking away what makes a Tarmac a Tarmac.

We found three key ways to do this: coming up with a new fork shape, dropping the seat stays and giving them a new aero tube shape, and then using a D-shape for the seat post and seat tube. It all means we can give you a bike that's 45 seconds faster over 40km compared with other lightweight bikes, something we're sure you'll see the benefit of when you're putting the hurt on at the front of your next race.

And it's ready to do just that out of the box, with the Women's Tarmac Expert coming with a super-sharp Shimano Ultegra 8000 groupset, lightweight wheels with Roval SLX 24 rims and DT Swiss hubs, a super-comfy Oura Expert Gel saddle and our quickest S-Works Turbo 26mm tyres.