Specialized Gravel Bike With Full Suspension

Cycling Weekly

Specialized released a gravel bike, named the 2023 Diverge STR.  Built to be a long distance racer, this bike is the first ever Specialized to incorporate rear suspension in a gravel package.

Transcript

00:00There's been a whole lot of new road bikes this year, but not too many new gravel bikes that is

00:05until today. Specialized have just released this. This is called the Diverge

00:10STR. There's quite a few eye-catching features and don't worry, we're going to go through

00:14absolutely everything that this bike has to offer. I'm also going to tell you about the

00:17things that I'm not the biggest fan of, so be sure to stay tuned for those.

00:21So, like I said, the name of this bike is the Diverge STR. Now, the weight of this bike

00:33does start at 9.5 kilos for the three different models that they're offering,

00:37and the top-end model, the S-Works version, is 8.5 kilos, so a fairly respectable weight when

00:43you consider how much technology that they've packed into this. Now, like on the normal Diverge,

00:49you've still got the Future Shock up front, and you've still got those flared hover bars,

00:54which do work really nicely. You've got clearance for up to 47 mil wide tires,

00:59or even a 2.1-inch tire if you scale down to a 650B wheel. At the moment, though, they've actually

01:06fitted some 42C tires, and these are the tracers, so ideal for fast rolling gravel. Now, on this

01:13build, Specialized have gone to their in-house component brand, Roval, to find the wheels,

01:18and they've gone for their Terra wheels, which is basically their gravel offering.

01:23We've also got a carbon seat post, and this is the one you can expect to see on basically any

01:28high-end Specialized bike. We've got a power saddle, and then we've got a full SRAM Rival

01:34wireless groupset. And looking at the frame, it is entirely possible to fit a Di2 groupset,

01:40as I can see all the usual bunks. Onto practicality, and we've got the SWAT

01:45storage down in the down tube here, which, again, a hallmark of the gravel bikes. And then, of

01:51course, we've got the top tube mount here if you wanted to pop a bag for some snacks. And then

01:56you've still got, obviously, your bottle cage mounts here in the usual places. Onto the fork,

02:02and you do have mounts here for a low rider rack or cages, which is, again, ideal for those longer

02:08days in the saddle. The bike itself is actually compatible with most bikepacking bags, which is

02:14really good. The only thing that Specialized do say is that if you've got a top tube bag or a bar

02:20bag, which would then end up wrapping around the Future Shock, they say, basically, don't use it,

02:25because in reality, it's probably going to rip that rubber boot right open.

02:30So onto the most notable feature of this bike, and it is, of course, the inclusion of another

02:37Future Shock down here at the seat post. Now, the question I asked myself when I first saw this is,

02:44what on earth is that? How does it work? And is it a bit of a gimmick? Well, let's start off

02:50with how does it work? Well, first thing to know is that in this part of the frame down here,

02:55that is where we've actually got the Future Shock. And you can see the end of it popping out here,

03:01and then it attaches onto this thing here, which Specialized are calling the tendon.

03:06That then wraps around the frame post, not the seat post, but the frame post,

03:12and the frame post itself goes right down into the frame, and then it's covered by this rubber

03:18boot here, so that dirt, grit, grime, water doesn't then get into the frame.

03:25Now, like I said, the seat post slides into the frame post, and the frame post then slides into

03:32the frame, and it's around the frame post that you have the movement. And that is why this part

03:38of the bike is so wide and that it's so big. It's because that frame post has to be able to move

03:44around inside, but it's then the Future Shock up here, which is what controls that movement.

03:51Now, speaking of control, you've got a switch here on the Future Shock, which you can set to

03:56three different levels of dampening. Now, the way that it works is that essentially you've got your

04:01easy, your medium, and your hard. When you're on really rough terrain, you'd probably want to

04:07have it in that easiest setting to get the most use out of the Future Shock. When it's really

04:12smooth and compact, you'd then probably switch it over to your hardest setting because you don't

04:16need to be dampening out as much of the terrain. As I said, the frame post plays a really integral

04:23role to how this rear shock is going to feel, which is why each frame post actually has two

04:29different settings on it, and it looks like it's fairly easy to change. Now, when you buy one of

04:34these bikes, you actually get a second frame post, meaning you have four different setups, and that

04:40is so you can tailor it to a different rider weight. It's not just the rider weight you need

04:45to think about, though. It's also any luggage you're going to be loading the bike up with.

04:49You need to take into account that as well, which is why you've been provided with four different

04:55ways of setting the rear shock up. Now, in terms of actually changing that frame post, you might be

04:59asking, well, how easy is that to do? It looks like it shouldn't be too tricky. I haven't tried it

05:05myself yet, so I can only speak to what I can see. We've got a compression clamp down on the seat

05:10tube here. It looks like if you undo that, undo a little grub screw down here at the top of the

05:15triangle, take the seat post out, take off the tendon. You could probably slide everything out

05:21and then put a new one in. As I mentioned at the beginning of this video, I did say I was going to

05:27talk about a few things that I don't like about this bike, and I think we should get into those

05:31now. First up, I feel like this bike is a little bit confused. When I spoke to Specialized, they

05:39said that this bike is for those performance athletes, the ones who want to race things like

05:45Unbound and Grinduro, and they want to do those gravel races really fast.

05:52Arguably, that should make sense. However, for the people that are going out on big bikepacking

05:59adventures, being kept in a whole bunch of comfort, which is what Specialized say the

06:05normal diverge is currently targeted at, you do kind of wonder if this technology would be better

06:12suited on a bike that could also take a lot of bikepacking essentials like rear racks and mudguards

06:21front and rear, which at the moment, this isn't compatible with any rear storage or mudguards,

06:28which I think is actually a bit of an error. It does just leave this bike feeling a little bit

06:34confused in my opinion. Whilst I think this technology is good and that it does work,

06:41does it make sense for people that are doing gravel races over and above people that want to

06:46take on really long distance adventures? Obviously, those people in that situation

06:52are going to want to be kept as comfortable as possible for those gruelling miles that they have

06:57to do day after day. Another thing that I'm not the biggest fan of is the Future Shock unit that's

07:03in here is seen as a wearable part. It's got a two-year warranty, so if it breaks within that

07:09time, I'm sure Specialized would sort you out. If it breaks outside of that, then actually,

07:14you've just got to pay for a whole new one and Specialized are yet to confirm that pricing.

07:19I'm also slightly skeptical as to the structural integrity of this tendon here. It is a very thin

07:26piece of steel. I'm sure Specialized have put this through a whole bunch of fatigue testing,

07:32but this does just seem quite thin for what is probably taking a fair bit of stress,

07:37especially over those lumps and bumps and rocks and roots. One thing which I haven't quite bonded

07:43with entirely with this bike, and it is quite subjective, of course, but the color of this one

07:48for me isn't really what I'd go for. Obviously, being Specialized, there's going to be a whole

07:54range of different colorways available, but this one, yes, it's not for me.

08:01To answer the final question, does it actually work? Well, after a day of riding out here in

08:06the wilderness where this bike should be ridden, it does work. When I glance down when I've been

08:12over rougher terrain, I can see it compressing and doing something. When I'm riding along and

08:18I'm going over roots and rocks and lumps and bumps, I can see the front shock going, I can feel the

08:24rear one going, and the feedback through the bike doesn't match the terrain that I'm riding on

08:31because essentially it is successful in doing the job that it's set out to do, which is to suspend

08:37the rider. I think the key thing to remember is that with this new setup, if you were going to be

08:43riding this bike, you have to bear in mind that you start to adopt a new riding position and you

08:50adopt a new way of riding. You find yourself sitting in the saddle a bit longer than usual

08:56because it's more comfortable to do so and you can then put out more power. Now, while the

09:02technology does work, I feel like Specialized has narrowed their audience by doing this for people

09:08taking on gravel races and fastest known attempts. If they had the ability to mount rear storage,

09:16I think the number of people for this bike would be massive because the benefits are actually quite

09:23good. There we have it. That's the brand new Specialized Diverge STR. What I want to know

09:29from you guys is, what do you think about it? If you've got any questions about the bike,

09:34then be sure to drop them down below. If you enjoyed the video, drop it a like,

09:37subscribe to the channel for more content, and I'll see you again very soon.

09:41Okay.

09:49What a delicious shade of brown. Of course, we've got the usual bottle.

09:57Oh, yes.

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