Aluminum models get a special chainstay forging to improve clearance, but, “We couldn’t quite get the same wizardry out of alloy as we could out of carbon,” said Stewart Thompson, Specialized road and gravel category leader. To boost that clearance, Specialized lengthened the chainstays 4mm and used a solid and flat plate of carbon in the drive-side chainstay. You can go smaller, of course, though Specialized recommends you avoid anything smaller than 700x28. With fenders, clearance drops to 42mm in 700c and 47 in 650b. That’s with 6mm clearance in all directions, so there’s room for bigger tires if you dare. The new Diverge gets a boost in tire clearance so all models can now, officially, run up to 47mm tires in 700c, and 53mm (2.1 inches) in 650b (previous clearance was 700x42mm or 650b x 47mm). This change improves the Diverge’s performance with 650b wheels (which drop the bike compared to 700c wheels.) The previous Diverge would get crazy low if you dared run 650b wheels. It’s 5mm taller now, but still quite low, with an 80mm drop. The bottom bracket elevates slightly on the new Diverge. Combined with the somewhat short (for a gravel bike) trail, the shorter stem helps the Diverge feel more nimble on the road. This can offset the way larger tires can slow handling and make steering more lively. It’s a good model for this bike-it resists twisting on steep climbs, and the wide drops provide a secure stance for navigating tricky terrain.īecause of the longer reach, Specialized intends riders to use shorter stems. Here, you get Easton’s EC70 AX carbon bar with 16-degree flare, because, at this time, Specialized doesn’t have a flared carbon gravel bar. But this model, and the $10,000 S-Works option, are two of the few bikes in Specialized’s line that come with a non-Specialized parts. Most Specialized bikes come with house-brand components stem to stern. But the center ridge that offers that smooth roll doesn’t provide much braking traction on looser surfaces. They roll well on hard surfaces and offered good cornering bite on dirt. I came away with mixed feelings on the Pathfinder tires. The Roval Terra CL wheels survived my singletrack adventures and doinking more than a few rocks unscathed. The 1x12 SRAM wireless eTap drivetrain shifted crisply and offered a wide 500-percent range with a sub 1:1 low gear for steep climbs, while the 10-42 high gear had me spinning out around 30mph. The Diverge was all the things I’d want it to be in that situation: predictable, accurate, and reassuringly solid-feeling.Īs should be expected, the build on this $6,700 bike is excellent. I scrubbed speed, dipped it into a turn and got over the crown without the bike becoming skittery. Between the speed, the crown, the corner, and the gravel, the makings of a very bad time were all there but I was able to get myself through the corner with surprisingly little drama.
I needed to get hard on the brakes and get on the inside of the crown so I could get around the corner without washing off the road. In one memorable instance, I was hurtling down a loose forest road at quite a clip when I put myself on the wrong side of the road’s crown with a sharp corner fast approaching. Like a lot of the newer gravel bikes I’ve sampled, the new Diverge is more what I’d call mountain bikey than road bikey. I had plenty to compare the new Diverge against: I own a previous generation Diverge and happened to have seven other gravel bikes in for testing when the new Diverge arrived. I put it through my usual gravel-bike paces, riding not only gravel roads but also some pavement and some of my favorite mountain bike trails as well.
#Specialized diverge gravel bike pro#
I received the $6,700 Diverge Pro Carbon ahead of today’s launch. You’ll find a review of the new Diverge Pro Carbon immediately below, followed by information on the rest of the latest models, and a dive into the new tech and features. And with so many riders turning to gravel, Specialized grew the Diverge to 11 models priced from $1,100 to $10,000. Updates include revised geometry, more mounts, and many new features, including in-frame storage on many models. The brand’s schedule and gravel’s surging popularity ensured that a Diverge was on the horizon. A look at its drop-bar line and one bike stood out as older than the rest: the Diverge gravel bike. The brand typically updates its premier models every two years or so. Specialized operates on an aggressive product-development schedule.
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