Specialized Diverge
Discussion
Got it this afternoon and it was a very different experience from buying my last bike. They had plenty of time to run through things and make sure I was clear on how to use it properly and when to bring it back for it's 1st service. With my Sirrus the bloke couldn't get me out of the door quick enough and said it needs a service in 6 weeks but don't bother unless you've done 500 miles on it. I know there is a big difference in cost between the two bikes but even so.
Any way I had the Body Geometry fit done too, its the 1st time I've had a fitting and it highlighted a couple of issues with my knees and ankles that I hadn't noticed before but through seeing replays on the video as he made tweaks to my cleets then inserts in my shoes I could see how it brought everything into line. It wasn't cheap but hopefully finding these things out will make riding more comfortable.
Onto the bike, I'd only seen the base and sport models but I'm a sucker for a spec list. I'm sure the other models would have been fine but the smart weld frame, hydraulic brakes and fancy seat post pulled me in.
I'm planning on getting out on it as much as possible, I'm also not that fussed about weight (I am the biggest weight saving that be made) so I had the plug and play mudguards fitted and I'm very impressed with them. They are rigid aluminium and aren't all that noticeable, I'll probably take them off in the summer but for now I'm glad to have them.
After all this I haven't actually ridden the thing yet apart from on the turbo trainer during the fit. I'm hoping that the weather does it's supposed to and I'll be out on it tomorrow and I'll give some more feedback.
Until then I've only got the one photo, tonight is probably the only night it will spend in the house.
Any way I had the Body Geometry fit done too, its the 1st time I've had a fitting and it highlighted a couple of issues with my knees and ankles that I hadn't noticed before but through seeing replays on the video as he made tweaks to my cleets then inserts in my shoes I could see how it brought everything into line. It wasn't cheap but hopefully finding these things out will make riding more comfortable.
Onto the bike, I'd only seen the base and sport models but I'm a sucker for a spec list. I'm sure the other models would have been fine but the smart weld frame, hydraulic brakes and fancy seat post pulled me in.
I'm planning on getting out on it as much as possible, I'm also not that fussed about weight (I am the biggest weight saving that be made) so I had the plug and play mudguards fitted and I'm very impressed with them. They are rigid aluminium and aren't all that noticeable, I'll probably take them off in the summer but for now I'm glad to have them.
After all this I haven't actually ridden the thing yet apart from on the turbo trainer during the fit. I'm hoping that the weather does it's supposed to and I'll be out on it tomorrow and I'll give some more feedback.
Until then I've only got the one photo, tonight is probably the only night it will spend in the house.
Thanks for the comments guys, I really wasn't executing the mudguards to look quite as good as they do. They are the specialized ones and were £40 http://www.specializedconceptstore.co.uk/plug-and-...
The bike is a 58cm, I've put it on my bathroom scales using a block of wood under the bottom bracket and it weighs just over 11kg as it is in the photos, whether this is accurate I don't know but it doesn't feel very heavy.
I've been out on it this morning and it's lovely to ride, I didn't want to go too far from home just in case I had any issues (I forgot that my spare tube won't be the right size any more) so I set out on a 10 mile loop, first 5 miles it went like a dream and I could tell it was a lot quicker it is than the Sirrus. the second 5 miles I found out why it was so dramaticallyquicker as I turned into a headwind and immediately slowed down! I've been pretty much off the bike for 7 weeks and I certainly wasn't very fit before that but the head wind killed me off but I'll be back out on it tomorrow I hope.
There is some really nice touches on the bike such as the S on the head tube is a separate piece of aluminium, it's really comfortable to ride too, the zertz inserts especially in the seat post really seem to work, overall I'm really happy with it and I'm looking forward to doing quite a few miles on it.
The bike is a 58cm, I've put it on my bathroom scales using a block of wood under the bottom bracket and it weighs just over 11kg as it is in the photos, whether this is accurate I don't know but it doesn't feel very heavy.
I've been out on it this morning and it's lovely to ride, I didn't want to go too far from home just in case I had any issues (I forgot that my spare tube won't be the right size any more) so I set out on a 10 mile loop, first 5 miles it went like a dream and I could tell it was a lot quicker it is than the Sirrus. the second 5 miles I found out why it was so dramaticallyquicker as I turned into a headwind and immediately slowed down! I've been pretty much off the bike for 7 weeks and I certainly wasn't very fit before that but the head wind killed me off but I'll be back out on it tomorrow I hope.
There is some really nice touches on the bike such as the S on the head tube is a separate piece of aluminium, it's really comfortable to ride too, the zertz inserts especially in the seat post really seem to work, overall I'm really happy with it and I'm looking forward to doing quite a few miles on it.
Had mine delivered today. It's a good looking bike in the flesh; not stunning, but 'functional'. Not ridden it yet as I'm changing the groupset and want to flog the standard Claris set as unused. Going to start swapping over the components tonight and I'll weigh it before and after. Not expecting too much weight loss as I guess wheels would make the biggest difference.
Straight out of the box.....
Straight out of the box.....
Skyedriver said:
Looked at these the other week, (£900 with better kit on it). How good (or bad) is the Claris and other stuff, is it worth buying the cheaper bike and using it like it is or buying the upgrade bits separate. Would I be disappointed with the cheaper bike?
Claris is a perfectly acceptable groupset, and 8-speed is pretty adequate. The RANGE of your drivetrain is the key, not the number of speeds.I've gone from 8-speed Sora to 10-speed Tiagra on my drop bar commuter this year, and the main difference to note after approx. 3000km is that the old style Sora shifters are miles easier to use with bulky lobster mitts! I don't notice the closer rarios on the cassette, the overall range is the same. I'd swap back on the 8-speed Sora without hesitation if I had to.
11-speed Shimano 105 is worth looking at if you are a fragile cadence-sensitive butterfly type of rider.
Barchettaman said:
Skyedriver said:
Looked at these the other week, (£900 with better kit on it). How good (or bad) is the Claris and other stuff, is it worth buying the cheaper bike and using it like it is or buying the upgrade bits separate. Would I be disappointed with the cheaper bike?
Claris is a perfectly acceptable groupset, and 8-speed is pretty adequate. The RANGE of your drivetrain is the key, not the number of speeds.I've gone from 8-speed Sora to 10-speed Tiagra on my drop bar commuter this year, and the main difference to note after approx. 3000km is that the old style Sora shifters are miles easier to use with bulky lobster mitts! I don't notice the closer rarios on the cassette, the overall range is the same. I'd swap back on the 8-speed Sora without hesitation if I had to.
11-speed Shimano 105 is worth looking at if you are a fragile cadence-sensitive butterfly type of rider.
Would the cheaper Diverge be just as good as the more expensive one to someone (me) who has cycled for decades on old gear?
Road bike changers are part of the brake lever setup these days. Brake lever goes sideways, as does the smaller lever behind it (you can see these in the photographs). Brake lever for bigger ring/sprocket, other lever for smaller. Largely no need to fine adjust like we did for levers in the downtube.
Groupset differences are more about quality than the range of gears. For the Diverge there are 3 different frames I believe. Three grand buys carbon, two grand buys Smartweld and the others get the more basic aluminium frame.
I'd expect you to be impressed with any of them. It's cheaper and easier to swap components than a frame, of course. You could buy the basic one and upgrade over time.
Groupset differences are more about quality than the range of gears. For the Diverge there are 3 different frames I believe. Three grand buys carbon, two grand buys Smartweld and the others get the more basic aluminium frame.
I'd expect you to be impressed with any of them. It's cheaper and easier to swap components than a frame, of course. You could buy the basic one and upgrade over time.
Skyedriver said:
So help for a Newbie to all this - my road bike changers are on the down tube mountain bike are little levers - Is the Claris, Sora, Tiagra basically the same just different (more) ratios or are the parts better quality. Would I notice it in real life?
Would the cheaper Diverge be just as good as the more expensive one to someone (me) who has cycled for decades on old gear?
I don´t think you´d notice the difference between 8-speed Claris, 9-speed Sora and 10-speed Tiagra. They all have pretty much the same lever throw. I´ve spent much more time with new Sora and 10-speed Tiagra than 8-speed Claris.Would the cheaper Diverge be just as good as the more expensive one to someone (me) who has cycled for decades on old gear?
Bear in mind that any budget groupset will respond well to a posher cable/housing set (Jagwire Road Pro for example, with the teflon cables and kevlar housing, there are other options).
Now, to answer your Diverge question, I would suggest the 8-speed Diverge looks a pretty good deal, with one caveat. The 11-32 cassette is probably a bit too spread for 8-speed, resulting in really big gaps between gears, and I personally would swap it out for a 12-28 ETC cassette:
http://ukbikestore.co.uk/product/387/ecs022/etc-8-...
That is assuming you´re not going to do a huge amount of really hilly off roading or massively fast group riding on it. 8 speed 12-28 with a 50-34 crankset is a really nice spread of gears for solo road riding.
I really like the bespoke mudguards for that bike. A winner.
OK, so we´ve established that the 750 quid Diverge is a good little ´all-day´ road bike with discs, with a sensible set of components. What else is there around that price range?
Having a look at the Evans site under the ´adventure road´ category brings up a few possibilities:
Genesis CdA 10
Pinnacle Arkose One, gets you 9-speed Sora for 700 quid
And, my particular favourite, if you can stretch to 850 , get an Arkose Two with full hydraulic brakes.
Hope this helps
Simon
I've had the Diverge for a week or so now and have been out for three 30+ mile rides on it. First impressions are very positive indeed. On road it is very, very comfortable and rides pretty similar to an Allez that I used to own. Apart from the fat tyres and disc brakes you wouldn't really know that you weren't on a regular road bike. Even on poor road surfaces, it really soaks up the bumps and you get very little buzz.
Off road it is just as capable as my Cube X-Race cross bike and more comfortable, even with the 32c tyres pumped up to 80psi (compared to 35c tyres at 50psi on the cross bike). You wouldn't want to race cross on it but for bridleways, tow paths and the like it is brilliant. Not all cross bikes are the same obviously, but my Cube had the traditional very short top tube and I was always a little cramped on it.
I can see me using the Diverge for some longer distance rides instead of my regular road bike to be honest. I think with 28c Conti Four Seasons it would make a great touring bike, but actually the 32's roll along pretty well. Although they are effectively a road tyre, they cope OK with a bit of mud off road so I'll probably leave them on for now. You aren't going to be racing across muddy fields in them but they are fine for where I use them.
Up until now I'd resisted the urge to have disc brakes as I found that mini-V's provide all the stopping power I needed. For the first hour or so on the Diverge I thought I'd made a terrible mistake going for a bike with mechanical discs as they hardly stopped the bike. However, once the pads bedded in my confidence grew and now I wouldn't go back to rim brakes for this type of the bike. The stopping power is excellent and predictable, and there is enough modulation. Mini-V's can be a pain with mudguards and obviously with discs it's pretty much a none issue. I went for the Specialized Plug and Play ones (as the other Diverge on this thread) and they are a neat fit. They took a little bit of manipulating to get them straight but once on they are very solid.
So, very impressed so far. It's probably a bit corny, but if someone had designed a bike based on my requirements for a go anywhere/winter bike then the Diverge would pretty much be it...a titanium frame would be nice though! My only complaint is the dull colour choice at the moment but I guess that'll change if they manage to shift a few.
Off road it is just as capable as my Cube X-Race cross bike and more comfortable, even with the 32c tyres pumped up to 80psi (compared to 35c tyres at 50psi on the cross bike). You wouldn't want to race cross on it but for bridleways, tow paths and the like it is brilliant. Not all cross bikes are the same obviously, but my Cube had the traditional very short top tube and I was always a little cramped on it.
I can see me using the Diverge for some longer distance rides instead of my regular road bike to be honest. I think with 28c Conti Four Seasons it would make a great touring bike, but actually the 32's roll along pretty well. Although they are effectively a road tyre, they cope OK with a bit of mud off road so I'll probably leave them on for now. You aren't going to be racing across muddy fields in them but they are fine for where I use them.
Up until now I'd resisted the urge to have disc brakes as I found that mini-V's provide all the stopping power I needed. For the first hour or so on the Diverge I thought I'd made a terrible mistake going for a bike with mechanical discs as they hardly stopped the bike. However, once the pads bedded in my confidence grew and now I wouldn't go back to rim brakes for this type of the bike. The stopping power is excellent and predictable, and there is enough modulation. Mini-V's can be a pain with mudguards and obviously with discs it's pretty much a none issue. I went for the Specialized Plug and Play ones (as the other Diverge on this thread) and they are a neat fit. They took a little bit of manipulating to get them straight but once on they are very solid.
So, very impressed so far. It's probably a bit corny, but if someone had designed a bike based on my requirements for a go anywhere/winter bike then the Diverge would pretty much be it...a titanium frame would be nice though! My only complaint is the dull colour choice at the moment but I guess that'll change if they manage to shift a few.
Edited by benny.c on Tuesday 10th April 16:32
I'm just digging up this old post after looking at a Diverge as a winter bike/commuter on the C2W scheme.
I'm thinking about possibly getting the Claris spec A1 model than upgrading to an Ultegra 11 speed disc groupset which would give me a great spec bike for <£1k overall. Does anyone know if it's possible to fit an 11 speed cassette on the freehub or would it need to be changed as well?
I'm thinking about possibly getting the Claris spec A1 model than upgrading to an Ultegra 11 speed disc groupset which would give me a great spec bike for <£1k overall. Does anyone know if it's possible to fit an 11 speed cassette on the freehub or would it need to be changed as well?
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff