Agreed. These seem like fine top ends for anything other than bombing long descents.
For Roubaix, which the Roubaix bases the marketing story around, many Pros run 54t+ rings. SRAM makes big “pro rings” for these days. The pros would gear for efficiency and reliability (meaning not counting the 10t in the gearing plan)
I assume SRAM wants at least one pro on their Roubaix for Roubaix. In the past Sagan got a FutureShock spacer
Who is the intended market for this bike? Flat Gran Fondo riders who occasionally travel on tame-ish off road? Casual group riders with sore joints?
I don’t mean that as disparaging at all. I am middle age and nowhere near peak fitness, but I have no interest in this bike. Why? If I am honest I just don’t like the looks of it. Add to that weight, and the futureshock. And the price.
I doubt that
Could be someone who wants a bike that is a bit racy (improved aero design), but can’t cope with the typical race geo from a Tarmac. Quick check shows Stack height could be around 50mm different between similar sized Tarmac vs Roubaix. In tandem with that is a tad more stable geometry that may eliminate toe overlap in some case.
All that geo consideration is in total ignorance of the potential comfort differences that may matter a lot to people with certain road conditions and/or physical demands that a Tarmac or similar won’t address.
Jumping to a Diverge comparison swings a bit the other way with the Roubaix having more road bike handling vs the dirt focus on the Diverge.
This all is splitting hairs to a degree, but are ways to legitimately separate these very close model specs in some areas (tire size for one).
I’ve done a bunch of fondos and charity rides, so I’ve seen many Roubaix (Roubaixes?) out there. My anecdotal data suggests these are popular with folks in their 50s-60s who want to be comfortable and reasonably fast. I’m sure Specialized can sell a bunch to folks who want to do fondos and dabble in rides like BWR/SBT GRVL etc.
Just my observations as a 41 year old (does that make me middle aged 
) Roubaix owner, who likes being comfortable and reasonably fast 
Roubaix was my first bike purchase a few years ago when I was 36. The wider tire clearance (at the time) and comfort aspect was a selling point and I wasn’t sure where riding would take me next. The future shock has needed no maintenance and the seatpost wedge can be tightened using any wrench.
It was race-y enough to let me grow into fast group rides (+ a few crits) and if I wanted to venture out to smooth gravel I could use the same bike. I even messed around on some single track in New York recently on it. The future shock absorbed most of the bad road nonsense that is just common on most rides. My pandemic purchase bike will always have a special place in my heart.
yes, not everyone wants to ride for 5+ hours on a race bike. And I’ve got twenty years on you. It has taken me 2 years to get ‘comfortable’ with my Tarmac SL7 and it is far more punishing than the Trek Domane it replaced. I’ve done bigger climbing rides on the Domane, and much longer rides too.
the struggle is real!!!
Roubaix is probably perfect bike for most of riders, but in cycling it’s constant struggle between bike you want and you need. I know I would not fit tarmac without spacers and my body does not fit long and low racing bike. Roubaix and Diverge have a way better geometry for most people who are not 2X years old, 6X kg weight with great flexibility putting 300W in their Z2. So despite not being particularly sexy I would say (along diverge) it would be my resonable choice from Specialized.
Fortunately they are so expensive that for me it’s the same debate if I would like to own residence somewhere in Switzerland or Tuscany 
This sums it up very well…at least from my experience and talking to/seeing people in charity rides/fondos. I’ve run across plenty of folks who got a “race bike” but have a positive angle stem because the stack is too low and mash up hills because the 52/36 with 11-30 cassette just isn’t cutting it.
You can go plenty fast on a Roubaix. It’s supposedly more aero than a Tarmac SL6 (per Specialized), you can get the front reasonably low if you get a negative stem and ditch the riser bars, but it does cost you a bit of weight compared to a Tarmac. But man is it comfy after 5, 6 or 7 hours 
This is my current thinking - comfort as a base of riding. I will never win any race in my life and local KOM is my best bet for glory.
I love looking at all racing bikes and reading about them, but in the end most of my rides will be fairly long and fairly calm, so at least they can be comfortable. Yes, I am getting older.
I do not say nobody should buy a racing bike (or rather bike with racing geometry), but some people just do not fit the mold of a racer. Personally I am happy that not every bike is top of the range, racing bike.
not trying to be stupid, but I’m totally not getting it. Because on group rides I see normal looking stems, and really aggressive slammed stems.
WW had a field day showing a bunch of pros with lots and lots of spacers. 
45 and I just put a -17deg stem on my bike. I think I’ve got that meme flipped. By 52, I’ll be able to ride an Allez Sprint or Caad sized down.
…that or it’ll go wrong spectacularly when I ride the bike for the first time in spring.
I’m still clueless on the joke. Up on the hoods the Tarmac is like being in the drops on the Domane. When I was forced to buy a bike in 2021, the only bike remotely acceptable was the Tarmac. So I bought it. Fast bike, I love it on rides less than 3 hours. Nowadays I can hammer in the drops but it took some time to adjust to the far more aggressive aero hoods position. At this rate, by sixty five I’ll have a -17 stem and no spacers 
Well… it depends I think.
Over here at least, the dudes with the most drops are the ones who cannot for their life get down to 90 degree elbow and really get aero.
Usually it’s the ones with 6-8cm drop that are able to actually get aero.
Every time I see someone with insane drop, 98% of the time they always ride with locked out arms.
Amen. At the time I loved my 2015 gen1 Domane but the steering is sleepy. Never had a problem getting it to move forward, but the front end would lift up on steep gradients. It was a really nice endurance bike, but I outgrew it and the vast majority of my rides are 3 hours and less. Last year I did a 7 hour gravel ride on my Tarmac, and doing it again in 2 days. To be clear, its California coastal dirt roads with loose rocks, but there was a mile or so descent at -9% on gravel followed by 3 miles on one of the worst paved descents I’ve ever had the teeth rattled on.
I’d definitely like to give a more modern endurance bike a try, but so far the Tarmac has been fantastic.