One of the crown jewels of Specialized Bicycle’s offerings is the Roubaix, a men’s bike built for the hellish one-day Paris–Roubaix race, which Philippe Gilbert won in 2019. But, in a momentous shift: the new Roubaix has been designed as a gender-neutral bike and will launch a category-defining departure from gendered frames altogether.
To announce the news, Specialized released a powerful spot the week of the Paris–Roubaix itself. The spot is told from the point of view of the road—and not just any road, but the most grueling section of cobblestone in the race, the Trouée d’Arenberg.
In the film we hear the menacing voice of the road explain how it lives to inflict pain on its riders, irrespective of gender. The film’s climax then reveals that the Roubaix riders are in fact women—a poignant act on this stage of the all-male race.
The equality-championing brand ends the film with a call to open up the Paris–Roubaix race to all genders, just as Specialized has done with the Roubaix bike.
Released: April 2019
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San Francisco, Specialized
