The road cycling market has always seen a pretty clear split between the leisurely, heavy and absorbent endurance bikes, and the more efficient, twitchy and lightweight race bikes. But what if you wanted to go for a long ride over dodgy terrain at speed Say, over the cobbles of northern France The answer to this question is the new Roubaix. The 2018 S-Works Roubaix Dura-Ace Di2 is a beautifully packaged and versatile machine that is as well-suited to the gritty, potholed country roads of rural Britain as it is to a cobbled classic.

The 2018 S-Works Roubaix features one of the lightest frames we've ever made. Built from our very best FACT 11r carbon fibre around an overhauled geometry that takes fit and feel cues from its SL4 predecessor, you couldn't ask for a more stiff and efficient steed for the type of terrain this thing can tackle. What's more, our engineering magicians have managed to maintain the same exhilarating ride characteristics no matter the frame size through our unparalleled Rider-First Engineered process.

Up front is where it gets exciting though. The Future Shock is our bar-raising new technology, developed hand-in-hand with McLaren Applied Technologies with the aim to keep efficiency and handling consistent on all terrains. What we came up with was to all intents and purposes a piston or spring in the head tube, offering up to 20mm of travel, addressing performance in vertical compliance rather than working with traditional suspension systems. In the past, fork splay would be the go-to method of smoothing out rough surfaces, but that means stretching the wheelbase which loosens up the handling and compromises pace and efficiency. By focussing on vertical compliance and sending road feedback up through the headtube, the bike essentially stays the same shape, maintaining its exquisite handling and ensuring that the Roubaix outperforms any of its competitors.

The 2018 S-Works Roubaix benefits from a top-tier build kit to complement its superlative frame and Future Shock tech. It is equipped with crisp-shifting Shimano Dura-Ace 9150 Di2 electronic gears, 9170 hydraulic disc brakes and hand-built Roval CLX 32 wheels complete with frankly gorgeous CeramicSpeed bearings and custom hubs. S-Works finishing kit is the cherry on top of a veritable road warrior, ready for hours of adventurous riding over paved road and pav.

• Featuring our Rider-First Engineeredâ„¢ design that ensures every frame size has the same legendary responsiveness and smooth ride quality that you'd expect from a Roubaix. The S-Works FACT 11r frameset is our highest quality carbon frame, offering the ideal blend of light overall weight and targeted stiffness, while the all-new Road Control "suspension" system at the cockpit delivers a revolutionary degree of comfort and control.
• An S-Works Roubaix Disc fork is built from our top-end FACT 11r carbon fiber for supreme stiffness, strength, and reactivity, while a thru-axle design only stands to bolster all of the above.
• Shimano Dura-Ace Di2 shifting offers 11-speeds of electronic wonderment. Shifts are as precise as it gets and the trim adjust up front ensures that chain rub is a thing of the past—no matter how extreme your cross-chaining gets.
• Comes equipped with a 40lbs spring (color: yellow, weight: firm) installed, and also includes both 13lbs (color: blue, weight: soft) and 25lbs (color: black, weight: medium) springs that can be installed to match the terrain you're riding.