So, that is the second time I’ve written this essay/assessment/appreciation of the Specialised Diverge journey bike. The primary time, I used to be so delicate to not consuming the journey bike Kool-Support, I regarded to criticize wherever I might. It got here throughout as cynical, when in actual fact my emotions in regards to the Diverge are the other of cynical: After by no means actually loving highway bikes, after avoiding pavement in favor of dust, after attempting numerous cyclocross bikes and never falling in love, I threw a leg over the Diverge in October 2017 and my life modified for the higher from the very first trip. I rediscovered what I’d felt once I obtained my first mountain bike in 1982, even the sensation I obtained once I was given my first two-wheeler as a child: that sense of liberation and wide-open horizons.
Since getting the Diverge, I’ve put three,427 miles on it, based on Strava, greater than I’ve ridden my mountain bike within the final three years mixed, and it’s made me see the world as one limitless place to trip: Pavement, dust, cobbles, fireplace highway, paved path, singletrack, to the Diverge it’s all the identical.
The Diverge and its cousins are like rally automobiles or twin sport bikes….multi-tools that open up the previous methods to new sorts of enjoyable.
Now, you possibly can make that argument about nearly any bike. However the Diverge is the primary bike I’ve ridden that’s comfy on each pavement and within the dust. For positive, using a dropbar bike on a rugged singletrack won’t ever evaluate to flowing on a dual-banger, however you are able to do it and do it smiling. What the Diverge permits is quicker miles, which equals extra miles, which equals a happier me. Now not is the trip from home to trailhead a slog; not is the climb a balance-shifting dance to search out probably the most environment friendly candy spot within the suspension. You may blaze on pavement, you’ll be able to blaze within the dust.
It wouldn’t be correct to say that I’d grown uninterested in mountain biking, however I’d positively gotten in a rut, using the identical previous trails daily, largely due to time constraints. My native trails are epic, however if you’ve accomplished the identical climb 100 instances in a 12 months as a result of it’s the closest to your home, even Stokey McStokester could be up for one thing new.
So, yeah, I used to be prepared for a distinct type of motorbike, for one thing to combine up the expertise, and that positively supplies the context for a way I seen the Diverge. However bike firms are onto one thing with the journey bike and gravel grinder.
This isn’t simply deliberate obsolescence at work or the creation of a brand new class simply to generate some buzz. Smaller manufacturers have been constructing and proving the value of dropbar journey bikes for a very long time and greater firms like Specialised are actually devoting appreciable assets to them. The reason being that they’re legitimately completely different—approach, approach sooner on the highway than a mountain bike, far more comfy on trails than a cross bike. It’s not simply hype—the Diverge and its cousins are like rally automobiles or twin sport bikes….multi-tools that open up the previous methods to new sorts of enjoyable.
For me, the Specialised Diverge is the right mix of functionality, weight, pace, nimbleness, and luxury. This has to do partially with its shock absorption and bigger tires, but in addition to its geometry.
When the Diverge first got here out, a whole lot of manufacturers had been simply utilizing cross bikes and branding them gravel bikes. The reason being that it’s actually costly for a motorcycle firm to put money into a brand new mannequin and so they had been hedging to see the place this class went, enjoying it protected by repurposing an current mannequin earlier than going all in. And whereas a CX bike can be utilized as a gravel bike, it’s removed from optimum. Cross bike geometries are designed for tremendous tight, tremendous quick CX race programs. The steering is steeper and the wheelbase is shorter. With the Diverge, Specialised slackened the entrance finish, lengthened the wheelbase, and dropped the underside bracket 10mm. The result’s whole confidence on gravel descents—nicely, as assured as I’ll ever be in free gravel.
Additionally necessary is the Future Shock within the headset, which supplies 20mm (.78 inch) of shock absorption and bump compliance. 20mm won’t sound like a lot journey, and relative to a mountain bike fork it isn’t, but it surely turns a motorcycle that will be kinda depressing off-road into one which’s pleasurable on most doubletracks and a whole lot of singletracks and even makes sketchy descents potential. Once I first constructed it up and confirmed it to a few of my bike store mates, we had been all skeptical that the Future Shock might make any distinction in any respect, but it surely seems to be night time and day. I don’t know if you realize Southern California trails in any respect, however I’ve taken the Diverge down Silverado Motorway, the Luge, and Holy Jim and truly had enjoyable—on a hardtail, dropbar highway bike. That’s nothing lower than a miracle.
Wider tires additionally necessary. Whereas a cross bike might need tires which are 33mm or 35mm extensive, I first set the Diverge up with 700x42mm wheels. That was enjoyable, particularly in comparison with cross. However the enjoyable issue went approach, approach up once I switched to wider 650bx47mm hoops. The bike grew to become marginally slower on pavement however a thousand instances higher within the dust. I simply want you possibly can go wider on the Specialised—a whole lot of different gravel grinders will match 50mm. (Solely the primary and final pictures present the broader tire setup—I suppose as soon as I switched, I used to be having an excessive amount of enjoyable using to cease and shoot footage.)
I’m using the Diverge Sport, which value $2,100 and seems like the cut price of the century. That’s some huge cash by most measures besides bikes, the place it could be thought-about on the low finish. There have been seven (!!) Diverges priced greater than mine once I obtained it, all the way in which as much as $10,000. Right now the Diverge Sport prices $three,000 and the entry-level E5 Elite is $1,400. The closest analog to mine is the plain Diverge at $2,500, with a carbon body and hydraulic discs (mine are mechanical).
I haven’t ridden my full-suspension Yeti in two years. I’m both on the Diverge or my 27.5+ hardtail working three.zero tires. I acknowledge that a part of that stems from my want for novelty. However I wouldn’t have put three,400 miles on this bike if I didn’t find it irresistible. My stoke for using the Diverge prompted me to problem myself to trip each path and each vital road or highway within the southern half of my county, which took a 12 months and half and led me down almost 5,000 miles and a half-million ft of climb. The bike presents 90 p.c of the advantages of a highway bike with 80 p.c of the advantages of a mountain bike. You cowl much more floor than you usually would. Sketchy sections are survivable or, as a result of the bike is so mild (20 kilos, give or take), simply walked by means of or round.
On paper, or to a non-discerning eye, it won’t appear all that completely different than a highway bike, or actually even all that completely different from these highway bikes being retooled as gravel grinders. However it’s. I used to be anticipating the Diverge to be one other “okay bike,” one other dropbar machine that I didn’t fairly get, but it surely took only one trip to blow away these expectations and alter how, the place, and the way a lot I trip.
I’m not suggesting you purchase the Diverge. It’s not my place to do this, and you could have been there, accomplished that, and moved on. Bike lovers maintain sturdy opinions, and that previous discussion board saying, your mileage might range, is particularly true right here. However when you’re seeking to jumpstart your using, when you’re prepared for one thing new, if you wish to see the world of using in a brand new approach, go demo the Diverge or one thing prefer it. I feel you’ll be comfortable you probably did.
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