Specialized Ruby Elite review

Designed for harsh roads and long days in the saddle, the Specialized Ruby Elite brings suspension to the road

Cycling Weekly Verdict

This is an incredibly comfortable and well-put together ride. Despite not being a lightweight climber, the Ruby Expert is ideal for the hills and mountains, giving you more self-assurance than possibly ever before – once you’ve dialled in to the ride. So does suspension really have a place on a road bike? In a word, yes – on the right bike. The Ruby isn’t going to be everyone’s cup of tea, but the ease of braking and shifting gear really takes your riding confidence to the next level, allowing you take optimal riding lines, arguably making this quirky looking endurance bike exceptionally fast for you.

Reasons to buy
  • +

    Great handling

  • +

    Hydraulic braking

  • +

    Component specification

  • +

    Comfortable

  • +

    Innovative

  • +

    Semi all-terrain

  • +

Reasons to avoid
  • -

    Expensive

  • -

    Not pure race bike

  • -

    Lack of road feedback maybe disconcerting for some

  • -

You can trust Cycling Weekly. Our team of experts put in hard miles testing cycling tech and will always share honest, unbiased advice to help you choose. Find out more about how we test.

When Specialized re-launched the Ruby in September 2016, it did so at the same time as its Roubaix. Both come with the headline grabbing and highly unconventional front suspension.

It was hard not to draw parallels between the frames as a ‘his &her’ race duo, but in fact, whilst they may share springy similarities, once on board the Ruby, it’s clear that it has a much different remit, one that focuses less on race and more on comfort.

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Hannah Bussey

Hannah is Cycling Weekly’s longest-serving tech writer, having started with the magazine back in 2011. She has covered all things technical for both print and digital over multiple seasons representing CW at spring Classics, and Grand Tours and all races in between.

Hannah was a successful road and track racer herself, competing in UCI races all over Europe as well as in China, Pakistan and New Zealand.

For fun, she's ridden LEJOG unaided, a lap of Majorca in a day, won a 24-hour mountain bike race and tackled famous mountain passes in the French Alps, Pyrenees, Dolomites and Himalayas. 

She lives just outside the Peak District National Park near Manchester UK with her partner, daughter and a small but beautifully formed bike collection.