A beefier Spesh gnarmac bike.

45mm clearance, ready for internal routing of generator lamps. Looks good.
Radavist article.

However…..A riser drop bar?

So it’s a cyclocross bike?

I’ve never yet seen anyone taking part in cyclocross and using mudguards or a pannier rack.

Very nice that, the fork is particularly good.

MOAR PICHERS!

Elite. £1500.

Expert £2,500

Loaded.

There’s a range of bags coming out as well.

Very nice, that fork would look lovely on my Awol! Shame they didn’t spec a 15mm front axle though, as I can’t think of anyone doing a 12mm dyno hub?

Ooh,TEMPTATION!! 😀
Not sure about the bottle underneath the downtube though…

I like the look of that – halfway between an AWOL & Diverge, but most ways to a Charlie Cunningham.

And CFH – the riser dropbar had me intrigued, and the gif had me laughing 🙂

The Elite has special fugly levers 😯

That has to be one of the ugliest bikes i’ve ever seen.

Riser drop bar… like the Venge Vias.

This bar makes me angry.

I just want the tyres. Pref in gum wall.

Frame, forks and gumwall tyres = ace.

That post and bars = horrendous.

They can’t really help the the shape of the brifter hoods on SRAM stuff which look wrong to me.

This bar makes me angry.

Innocuous next to that ridiculous seatpost.

The SRAM HydroR hoods are pretty comfy TBH. I have them on my tiFargo and they work really well. I’m just waiting for the ETAP Hydro to be released… 🙂
Apart from those bars being a rehashing of previous bars (like most stuff from “S”) and that I won’t ever have to look at them, the sunken middle means that bar bag straps should stay there.

Apart from the rise – the bar looks really good! Not just shallow, but the drops are a good 2 inches closer to rear than most.

Apart from those bars being a rehashing of previous bars (like most stuff from “S”) and that I won’t ever have to look at them, the sunken middle means that bar bag straps should stay there.

It would force them narrow though, which I wouldn’t think ideal. Mine have never moved on normal bars anyway (Wildcat harness).
Basically they’ve done it for the same reason flat risers came about – angled stems and headset spacers look ugly. This looks marginally less ugly to my eyes.

Hmm.
More on road.cc

Base model.
Steel fork, Sora-ish, £950.

I want to like it.
But the tapered fork and through axles put me off, I can’t really see the point of either.

And why is the steerer cut so short?
If it’s to allow for that bar someone’s shoes need weeing in very, very quickly.
And those colours are boring.

A CdF seems to be a much more thought through bike.

Better review on Bikepacking.

Strange that the bottle cages are so far apart.
I know that you can get adapters to move them, but it would seem sensible to me to put them as low down as possible on a bikepacking bike – especially as they’ve got 2 positions.

Strange that the bottle cages are so far apart.

To allow room for SWAT, perhaps.

I hope they make a 64cm frame.

I hope they sell a frame and forks option.

The Sawtooth tyres look good:

Very pretty frame innit?
Dropouts are nicely done.
Look really good in a brighter colour.

Interesting to see how stiff they’ve made the frame.
The AWOL seems to be the loaded tourer, so I’m assuming this will be a lighter frame.

Could make a great allrounder, if they can keep the weight down.
Being a Spesh I’m assuming it’ll ride really well.

I’d be very interested how the Sonder Camino alloy compares to this.
Both look great

Could make a great allrounder, if they can keep the weight down.

Doesn’t look amazing on weight – 24lb from that review on Bikepacking. Hard to see where that extra couple of lb has come from tbh.

It seems the handlebars have been designed to work in conjunction with the handlebar harness?

The bags and rack to go with it seem really well thought out to be honest. Waterproof which most aren’t and rear saddlebag shouldn’t have the “swing” that a lot do.

Specialized Burra Burra Bikepacking Bags: Tested

Great article scud.
Some interesting things in there. Some of the clips/hardware look a little fragile (one of the reasons I like bikepacking as opposed to racks/panniers), but Specialized accessories are usually very well made.

Lots of room for cross top levers with that handlebar harness 🙂

not sure on that saddle bag, they swing from the bottom not the top where they strap to the saddle. They’ve designs (copied) it upside down.

No necessarily a bad thing but I’m pretty sure it’s just an AWOL with a new fork?

Want those bars for my diverge though! They are doing some sworks carbon aero riser bars as well (I suspect they will cause CFH to implode in rage)

What are the gumwall tyres?

Like the idea of a pair of them on my Vaya..

Teetosugars, the Road.cc article says the Elite has the sawtooth tyres as well. Must do them in tan/black options. Think my Fargo will get a pair too…..

I’m pretty sure it’s just an AWOL with a new fork?

And isn’t the AWOL a re-branded Tricross in steel?

I’m not surprised it’s heavy, my Tricross weights a ton for some unknown reason.

I hate those riser drop bars as well, grim 👿

Teetosugars, the Road.cc article says the Elite has the sawtooth tyres as well. Must do them in tan/black options. Think my Fargo will get a pair too…..

Cool.. Now to try and find them for sale somewhere…

32-43 Chainsets

That is a useful addition to the world

With a 12-36 cassette that covers quite alot of options…

Specialized Sequoia? Should be a Giant surely? Or Commencal could have made a dawn redwood, metasequoia…