The Paris-Roubaix men’s race, known as the “northern purgatory”, will take place on Sunday, and for the world’s toughest road cycling event, champion Peter Sagan from Slovakia will use a Shimano Dura The Specialized Roubaix of the Ace 9120 mechanical version participated.

The three-time world champion used mechanical shifting for Sunday’s race mainly because the flagstones were really bumpy. Remember that Sagan won Paris-Roubaix in 2018 with a mechanical version of the kit, but with a rim brake version.

Once Fabian Cancellara made the same choice to face the Paris-Roubaix flagstone.

The larger shift lever on the R9120 hand shift makes it less likely to accidentally shift gears when the rider’s hands are holding the hand shift. It is for this reason that Cancellara also switched from Di2 to mechanical shifting early on.

The benefit of electronic shifting, though, is the ability to install quick-shift buttons in various parts of the handlebar. Because in the Paris-Roubaix race, many riders like to put their hands on the handlebars, and the button advantage of quick shifting is immediately reflected.

For bumpy tracks, many frames will design targeted damping modules for them. But for a long time, the best way to make road bikes more comfortable on the gravel roads of northern purgatory is to install wider tires and set lower tire pressures.

Roval is the wheel sponsor of Sagan’s Bora-Hansgrohe team this year, but Roval’s latest wheel set is only available in clincher versions. While that’s obviously fine for most races, as Asgren just won the Tour of Flanders and Alaphilippe also won the World Championships last week on clinchers, Paris-Roubaix is ​​a different story.

While there have been plenty of reports that many riders at this year’s Paris-Roubaix are using tubeless tires, Sagan seems to be back on his most trusted Roval CLX 50 tubular disc brake wheelset.

The Specialized Roubaix is ​​equipped with Future Shock 2.0 technology, a hydraulic damper that adds 20mm of shock travel to the front. This is to filter out some of the bumps that the slate road brings to the rider, and there is a shock damping adjustment in the position of the stem cover.

Round Pro Vibe carbon handlebars were chosen for the handlebar system, while the stem appears to be the one on the Tarmac SL7.

The saddle is a Specialized Romin Evo, and while it’s not the highest-end model, it’s perhaps an attempt to increase the bike’s weight to the UCI’s 6.8kg.

The gear ratio is 11-28T cassette and 53/44T chainring. Because there are no steep climbs in Paris-Roubaix, riders will choose larger size small chainrings. And there are often many unexpected situations on the bumpy stone road. If the gear is placed on the big plate, it will affect the speed of starting again.