The new Diverge was released today. It has 30mm of damped seatpost suspension. In my opinion its a lot of weight and money for something that is just slightly better than a suspension seatpost. It also only seems to be compatible with wireless 1x groupsets, so no Campy, Shimano or mechanical SRAM.
Prices have gotten so crazy the numbers don’t even register anymore. It’s like billions and trillions, doesn’t even sound like real money. I’m not sure who will buy it, but it will sell. The trend on gravel race bikes had seemed to be headed in the opposite direction -- aero tube shapes, light weight and less complication from suspension features. No doubt this would be great for bike packing and for some unusually rugged courses but for normal-gnarly it seems like the tradeoffs would be something I’d pay extra to avoid, not to have. They’re onto something it sounds like with the way the rear works, and if they can get that extra pound back out of it somehow and drop the cost (that part will never happen with specialized of course) it could be the grail. Maybe the second generation of this will dilute the compromises.
The Diverge has indeed strayed from its roots. My 2015 has a great mix of comfort and fast-gravel sportiness that's missing in succeeding iterations. I achieved even more comfort with RideShift stem and Ergon/Compass seatpost, as well squeezing in fast 38c rubber on Roval carbons. Overkill? May continue as my swansong daily ride unless the market rebounds and I start smelling Cruxes?
Anyone have a short video clip of how rear suspension works or point me to one? It's something I would love to watch from a distance and go back to my battered old Diamondback happily.
coffeebreak wrote:Anyone have a short video clip of how rear suspension works or point me to one? It's something I would love to watch from a distance and go back to my battered old Diamondback happily.
You insert a tube (they call it "frame post") in the seat tube, that goes near to the BB, and it's flexible. It's like a second seat tube inside the seat tube. You also have different tubes to chose from, that varies how much they flex.
This second seat tube is connected to a dampener that goes in the top tube, to absorb the energy and control the movement.
Inside this second seat tube you insert the normal seat post with the saddle.
The great thing about bike racers in general, is they have an insane weight phobia and anything that clashes with that phobia is going to meet with resistance. Now, everyone's gravel is varied, but for the kind of riding I have here in the Western desert, there is no question in my mind that suspension is faster. If someone showed up to a gravel race here (supposing there was one) riding a light, stiff, gravel bike with 40mm tires they were have issues, starting with accumulated fatigue brought on by the relentless pounding of ungraded roads. Then they would have to hike-a-bike, often in the sand. If the race had a lot of serious climbing then the following downhills would be a nightmare beating for them. And then the washboards would turn them into jelly. My 'gravel' bike here is a drop-bar converted MTB XC racing bike with dual-suspension. I'm not sure how effective the suspension on this bike would be, but the need for suspension in some terrain is as necessary as in MTB racing. And I don't ride single track. The roads are all stuff you could do in a 4x4 truck. However, when I mention that said bicycle weighs more than 30 pounds with all my tubes, repair gear, pump, water, people immediately stop listening. Which is fine with me.
I think for those in the market for a full suspension gravel bike, the Topstone Lefty 1 seems a way better machine as the lowest spec STR at a similar weight. With the Cannondale you get actual suspension instead of this 'suspend the rider' sillyness. Ben Delaney makes a good point that all the seatpost suspension changes the geometry between the rider and the bottom bracket which isn't really a great thing. I haven't ridden a future shock but I would assume it would also change the geometry in strange ways when it compressed.
I had a Cannondale Scalpel 15 years ago and actually did some gravel races on it where I was at the time (Paris-Ancaster). It was basically a FS gravel bike. I had the Headshok not the lefty but it was a pretty cool system with needle bearings. The carbon chainstays that flexed was strange but worked pretty well in small rough stuff.
I do think that big tires only get you so far with gravel bikes. At some point along the gravel continuum (4x4 roads for me) I start to miss my old Scalpel.
ccand51997 wrote:The great thing about bike racers in general, is they have an insane weight phobia and anything that clashes with that phobia is going to meet with resistance. Now, everyone's gravel is varied, but for the kind of riding I have here in the Western desert, there is no question in my mind that suspension is faster. If someone showed up to a gravel race here (supposing there was one) riding a light, stiff, gravel bike with 40mm tires they were have issues, starting with accumulated fatigue brought on by the relentless pounding of ungraded roads. Then they would have to hike-a-bike, often in the sand. If the race had a lot of serious climbing then the following downhills would be a nightmare beating for them. And then the washboards would turn them into jelly. My 'gravel' bike here is a drop-bar converted MTB XC racing bike with dual-suspension. I'm not sure how effective the suspension on this bike would be, but the need for suspension in some terrain is as necessary as in MTB racing. And I don't ride single track. The roads are all stuff you could do in a 4x4 truck. However, when I mention that said bicycle weighs more than 30 pounds with all my tubes, repair gear, pump, water, people immediately stop listening. Which is fine with me.
Yes yes yes... I did the Stupid Pony on that desert on the non-rear-suspension diverge and 46mm tires and the front shock and big tires were weapons. def if had regular bike and 40s would have struggled. good god the washboard.
I keep waiting for Trek to introduce a full suspension gravel version of the Supercaliber. That suspension platform works great, the bike looks pretty normal too. Paired with a gravel fork it would be a winner for those who want full suspension.
I'd totally get one of these if it was specced on a gravel bike. The logging road washboard gravel here is really too rough for rigid bikes imho. They are doing a BWR up here next year early summer and that will be interesting.
In a lot of ways gravel seems to be taking over the space where XC mtb used to be 15-20 years ago. Mtb itself has shifted towards almost motorcross style riding with DH and Enduro. Now with E-mtb that trend seems to be accelerating (no pun intended).
I won’t be lining up for one, but I’m delighted to see more suspension design experiments. The world is full of riding conditions and riding styles that are different from mine. :-)
Spesh has come up with some pretty innovative designs of late, the flex-stay Stumpy is a bit of a game changer for the better. The enduro that was released a couple years ago is a real winner as well. This one is a head scratcher though. I know I should try it before putting it down but they are adding 0 vertical travel and adding fore/aft travel and a really awful looking design.
I like the idea of adding some rear suspension to a gravel frame and would probably buy one if I liked it. I don’t much like this one though. As the thing ages and those polymer post inserts stiffen or crack, you will have some really high priced junk.
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