Update 20 October 2022: Specialized has updated the Diverge once again, read our full coverage of the 2023 Specialized Diverge STR launch and our Specialized Diverge STR review
When the original Diverge blazed into the adventure and gravel racer space in 2014, it was a runaway success. Now the 2021 Diverge aims to build on that momentum with some new innovations.
Launched in May, the bike has a similar silhouette to the second generation from 2017, but as Stewart Thompson, Specialized’s category leader for road and gravel, explains, quite a bit has changed since then.
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‘This generation has five key new features: the Future Shock 2.0, progressive geometry for increased tyre clearance, internal SWAT storage, more bag mounting points and reduced weight.’
That’s enough to expect significant improvements so, having given high praise to the 2017 Diverge, I was really keen to see what this latest version would deliver over and above the outgoing model.
What struck me first was the extra clearance. The Diverge now accepts up to 47mm tyres on 700c rims and a hefty 2.1in (53mm) on a 650b wheelset – essentially a mountain bike tyre size, something pioneered by the original Open UP.
Another very visible feature is that SWAT storage compartment built into the down tube. This technology, carried over from Specialized’s mountain bikes, allows spares, tools and even a lightweight jacket to be stashed inside the frame.
Buy the Specialized Diverge from Rutland Cycling now
The logic is sound because, as well as freeing up valuable jersey pocket space, it places any extra weight closer to the bottom bracket to lower the bike’s centre of gravity, which could potentially even improve handling.
Yet despite its practicality, I can’t say I’m a fan. Call me old fashioned but to me it detracts from the sleekness of the carbon tubes, and I also suspect it could be subject to wear and tear.
However, any aesthetic grievances are quickly overshadowed by the other updates and completely forgotten when it comes to the riding experience.
[gallery:1]Rocking the mullet
Elements of Sram’s Eagle mountain bike groupset are creeping into more and more gravel bikes. The resulting Frankenstein groupset has even been given an endearing nickname: the ‘mullet setup.’
That is, an orderly set of Sram road levers up front (the business end of things) paired with Sram’s Eagle MTB rear derailleur and super-wide 10-50t cassette (the party-ready end).
That’s exactly the spec of this Sram Red eTap AXS equipped S-Works Diverge and, I have to admit, I loved its mullet.
I’m a road rider born and bred, yet a 1x setup really appeals to me. The simplicity of use, weight and maintenance advantages are obvious, and I’d argue there are almost no concessions.
With a 10-50t 12-speed cassette there is not only a surreal 500% range (wider than many 2x setups) but the gaps between each sprocket aren’t that big either. Perhaps you’d struggle to find a perfectly efficient cadence on a fast-paced road ride but for even the most competitive gravel riding there is ample gearing for almost any conceivable situation.
Speaking of road riding, the first few miles of every test ride were on tarmac. I was impressed with how like a road bike the Diverge felt.
The frame is rigid and the handling still very responsive, plus with a total weight of 8.3kg it really didn’t feel far removed from an endurance road bike, even with 38mm tyres. It is, however, off-road where the Diverge’s prowess really comes to the fore.
Riding the Diverge on loose gravel, its stability and predictability helped me to maintain control on challenging descents and encouraged me to sprint over tough stretches of trail that I’d normally navigate precariously.
The 20mm of variable suspension offered by the Future Shock 2.0 certainly played a part in that – although after a while I began to wonder about it’s true value.
[gallery:4]Back to the Future Shock
When I tested the 2017 Diverge I found the then-new Future Shock to be a great addition. It didn’t noticeably detract from the bike’s handling, yet it vastly improved front-end comfort.
The latest version of the Future Shock is a clear step up, being more tunable to allow for on-the-fly adjustment and generally offering a much more refined feel.
Yet as gravel bikes have evolved, I have become a little more skeptical about how much benefit suspension systems offer compared to what can be achieved simply by fitting higher-volume tyres, which most bikes can now accommodate.
Would the Diverge be just as good if tyres were its only means to dampen vibrations and improve comfort and control? This question plagued me, so I put it to Thompson.
‘Tyres are indeed a very effective form of suspension,’ he says. ‘However, any movement in the tyres is also completely undamped, while the FS 2.0 suspension damper controls the movement both in the compression and rebound phases.
‘Also, the range of pressure for optimal grip, rolling resistance and flat protection in tyres is quite a narrow window, maybe only +/- 10-15psi, so there isn’t as much scope to tune the ride feel as it might appear.’
Buy the Specialized Diverge from Rutland Cycling now.
Fair point. For me, though, part of the thrill of all-road riding is that slightly rougher ride quality and pushing my limits on technical terrain.
The Future Shock’s efficiency does, to an extent, detract slightly from that and the sense of connection with the ground beneath the front wheel.
On a broader level, though, the new Diverge is hugely versatile. It will equally suit riders geared towards an all-road riding style that splits tarmac with occasional stretches of gravel as it does those who want to push their limits onto more varied trails and terrains.
Plus, with even more mounting points for bags than before, it’s ideally suited for multi-day bikepacking trips.
This top-tier S-Works version comes with a hefty £9,500 pricetag but the next tier down the range is the Diverge Pro, which is more than £3k cheaper at £6,400. That seems to sacrifice only a very small amount given the sizable saving.
[gallery:6]Spec
| Frame | Specialized S-Works Diverge |
| Groupset | Sram Red eTap AXS |
| Brakes | Sram Red eTap AXS |
| Chainset | Sram XX1 Eagle, XX1 Eagle AXS rear derailleur |
| Cassette | Sram XX1 Eagle 10-50t |
| Bars | Easton EC70 AX Carbon |
| Stem | Specialized S-Works Future |
| Seatpost | Specialized X-Fusion Manic Dropper |
| Saddle | Specialized Body Geometry S-Works Power |
| Wheels | Roval Terra CLX, Specialized Pathfinder Pro 38mm tyres |
| Weight | 8.3kg |
| Contact | specialized.com |
All reviews are fully independent and no payments have been made by companies featured in reviews
Specialized S-Works Diverge 2018 review
A real step forward in the gravel sector yet at its heart still very much like a road bike. Not cheap, though
Peter Stuart – February 2019
For: Incredible versatility, sophisticated and intelligent construction and all around fun to ride
Against: Considerable price tag, dropper post seems superfluous
[gallery:7]Buy the Specialized S-Works Diverge from Tredz here
The new Specialized S-Works Diverge is an interesting, albeit somewhat confusing, sign of the times. It sits in a space between road bikes and... just about everything else.
With wide 38mm tyres, a suspension unit in the steerer tube and even a dropper seatpost, the S-Works Diverge is an abomination to the road bike purist. Sometimes, though, the rules have to be broken.
When the original Diverge was released in 2014, Specialized saw it as a niche product, to the extent that the US company was reluctant even to export it to the UK and Europe.
However, its popularity in this country surprised everyone, to the point where road category product manager, John Cordoba, now believes, ‘The Diverge will be biggest category in two to three years.’
While the previous iteration of the Diverge fitted squarely into the category of ‘gravel bike’ – wider tyre clearance, disc brakes and slacker geometry – this new version doesn’t.
Instead, it sits closer to what many have termed ‘GravelPlus’. The aim is to go beyond simple gravel tracks or bridleways and be capable of taking on mountain bike trails, which is why the new Diverge is compatible with smaller-diameter 650b wheels.
‘There’s a sweet spot in terms of tyre width where the 650b wheel and the 700c will give a similar ride quality,’ says Cordoba. ‘For 700c that is 38mm, while on the 650b it is 45mm, but with the new trend for wide rims the tyre changes shape a lot. On some 650b rims the bike will accept 47mm tyres.’
The new S-Works Diverge even has a dropper post, allowing the rider to drop the saddle by up to 35mm at the press of a lever to improve control and lower the centre of gravity on steep technical terrain.
Up front, the Future Shock offers a degree of suspension at the handlebars. It has been field tested on Specialized’s Roubaix line and the system has been stiffened for the Diverge, but we’ll return to that later.
It’s a far cry from Specialized’s high end road bikes of just five years ago, when bikes were built for 23mm tyres. The reward is increased versatility, but has the Diverge sacrificed the speed and handling that marks out a great road bike? Time to find out…
One for the road
When I first saw the new Diverge, I can’t pretend I found it attractive. Its curiously slack geometry, tall front end, strange integrated ‘SWAT’ box at the bottom bracket (not pictured) and enormous cassette and tyres felt like the antithesis of the clean lines of a classic road bike.
It had a job on its hands to impress me, and I was also certain that on my first ride I would be dropped and ridiculed by my ride partners. But no such thing happened.
[gallery:9]Probably the most revelatory aspect of this test was that the Diverge is, underneath it all, a fast road bike. Even with 38mm tyres, I kept pace on a Sunday ride with keen racers.
In fact, the only part of the ride where I was outdone was in the sprints, where I simply couldn’t find an effective cadence on the 42-11 biggest gear on the 1x groupset.
I’d planned to slim down to a 28mm tyre for road rides, but it wasn’t necessary. Despite its off-road spec, the bike is still fairly light (8.5kg) for a disc road bike and was admirably stiff under acceleration and while climbing.
Of course, the Venge ViAS or S-Works Tarmac are much quicker bikes than the Diverge on the road but, viewing the bike in terms of versatility, the Diverge handles the road just fine.
Comfort is predictably in a different realm to a normal road bike. It consumed the cracked and scarred roads of Surrey without difficulty.
[gallery:10]In that sense I preferred it even to the Roubaix. While the Roubaix’s Future Shock unit uses a linear spring system, the Diverge uses a progressive spring – creating more resistance as it compresses.
It makes it very hard to bottom out the handlebars and in general it feels more robust than the Roubaix.
Despite its road-worthiness, however, the Diverge’s real playground is on the mud and ruts of unpaved tracks – the ‘upside down’ of road cycling.
I used to view off-road riding as an esoteric pursuit best left to people who wear baggy shorts and say things like ‘gnarly’.
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The Diverge takes that to the next level. At the bike’s international launch in New Jersey, USA, I took it on mountain bike trails that I’ve never dreamt to venture onto riding anything resembling a road bike, and the Diverge handled it all with ease.
[gallery:11]Playing dirty
Back in the UK, I was inspired to try out the tracks around my usual riding territories, and I found myself jumping onto the saddle far more often than I usually would during the grim winter months.
The Diverge’s knobbly 38mm tyres coped with all surfaces happily, and I never considered switching to wider tyres on a 650b wheel.
The Future Shock front suspension did a good job of absorbing big hits, although adjusting the headset pre-tension with a combination of 2.5mm and 2mm allen keys was frustratingly fiddly.
The dropper post was fun, and undoubtedly useful whilst out in New Jersey. For the kind of riding I do day to day, though, I’d probably look to swap this out to save weight (and ideally cost too).
The Diverge has stirred in me confusing existential issues. I’m a road rider at heart, but this bike has opened up the trails, gravel roads and tracks that I previously didn’t know existed around my local area.
I may not want to hang this bike on my wall as a work of art, but I don’t believe there’s a cyclist out there, even the most traditional and cynical, who wouldn’t have fun riding the S-Works Diverge.
[gallery:13]Spec
| Groupset | Shimano XTR Di2 M9050 |
| Brakes | Shimano RS805 hydraulic disc |
| Chainset | Easton EC90 SL Carbon |
| Cassette | Shimano XTR Di2 M9050 |
| Bars | S-Works Carbon Hover Drop |
| Stem | S-Works SL alloy |
| Seatpost | Specialized Command Post XCP |
| Saddle | Specialized Phenom Pro |
| Wheels | Roval CLX 32 Disc |
| Weight | 8.50kg |
| Contact | specialized.com |
All reviews are fully independent and no payments have been made by companies featured in reviews
