Specialized Diverge… Opinions please !

In the previous thread I had about high front end road bikes someone mentioned a Specialized Diverge.

Ive had chance to have a quick look around the internet and it looks to be a very nice bike and possibly the sort of thing I am after. I am going to wait until Im back in UK before buying unless a bargain comes along.

Im more interested in the Diverge A1 bottom spec bike if possible and was just wondering if owners of them would mind posting a few comments on here please !!

Oh and how tall and what size etc etc !!!

Cheers

Steve

I’ve got the smartweld had a few weeks and love it, still tweaking my fit but I’m 5’8″ riding a 54cm with a short stem bit loads of seatpost out.

Just fitted some 31c tyres so hopefully that will make it even more comfortable but it was more than tolerable on canals/rough paths with the stock 28s

Mine’s nice.

6′, on a 56 with plenty of post showing. They’re designed for that, as it allows a flexier/comfier post.

Mine’s a crabon fribe version, though.

With Challenge Strada Bianca skinwalls in a 30.

Diverge owner here!

2015 basic A1 (black and blue one) – however stripped it and sold wheels/groupset and spyres and fitted Kinesis crosslight V3 wheels and a full 105 5800 11speed groupset and a bargain (from the Germans) set of RS685 hydro brakes.
Also picked up a COBL-GOBLR seatpost off eBay

5′ 10″ on a 56cm frame with 100mm stem. Running 28c’s on the wheels
Mega chuffed with it – ridden it more than the MTB (mainly due to work/kids etc) and have done a good few 100milers on it.

Doing 300k on it next weekend.

A

For cobl-goblr seatpost users, are they worth having? Thinking about one for my AWOL for really long days in the saddle but wondering about how much difference it makes. Cheers!

Ugly as hell but comfy!!

I did a 100miler just after I bought the bike with the ally post – got the COBL-GOBLR on eBay (a takeoff one – was new) a few months later and did another 100miler later that month – big difference!

A

Ugly as hell but comfy

Yep. You can’t see it when you’re sitting on the bike, though.

I’ve also got a smartweld, I’m 5’7″ and riding a 52. Loving it at the moment though mines only got Tiagra which works fine though a bit clunky.

I don’t find it too uncomfortable with the alloy post but will upgraded at some point though the wheels will be the first upgrade.

Any experience of adding aa koala style seatpack to it? Bit wary of damaging the carbon but I guess some well placed helitape would prevent that?

Cheers all.

Would you say they are more upright than a normal road bike?

Aren’t the A1 and E5 frames very different (A1 frames are old Secteur frames) ?

I can only comment on the carbon one, which I have. 6’2″ I have a 61 with seat tube on max extension. I do have silly long arms and legs for my height. I’ve flipped the stem, loads of stack washers gives tops and saddle roughly the same height. I’ve stuck some 48cm Nitto noodle bars on it.

Lots of bad points – paint is coming off, seatpost is wearing where the pack is, tyre size limited to 36mm, one of the rims badly drilled (only noticed when converting to tubeless), luggage points not compatible with any racks, etc

An absolute and utter joy to ride though.

Just did Wales coast to coast off-road, the guys I was with usually cane me when we’re on MTBs, but they were on CXers and I left them for dead on the rocky downhills (and they had 40mm WTB nanos, I had 36mm X’PLORs). I honestly think I could do the passports on it, yet on skinny tyres you could win a ‘sporting’ (i.e. non-TT bike) time-trial.

Rents, you’re not going to like this suggestion but what you are looking for would be best served with an old fashioned touring bike like a Dawes Galaxy. That kind of bike has a very long head tube and are designed to be sat on almost upright. The Diverge, like most of this kind of bike will be a touch higher at the front than a race bike but it’s negligible, sure you could put an high rise stem in it but you’re not going to get where you want it to be IMO.

lunge, my diverge has the same head tube size as my 1983 Raleigh Record Ace (64 frame), and taller than my 1982 Road Ace (62 frame).

However, the old Raleighs do ride fantastically, probably better than an A1 Diverge would.

I’ve got a carbon comp on demo – took it to the woods (flat and sandy) last night for a short blast, much fun, when I turned off the road to go down a dirty fireroad, it just seemed to smooth everything out

Commuted 32km on it this morning, very comfy, well apart from the stock Toupe saddle, not my thing – cruised in at 30kph

On a 54, with the stem switched to 80mm with a 10mm spacer underneath – dropped the bars to the same height as my defy but the front end still feels high, must be the longer headtube – be better off on a 52 if I buy one for sure as I’m on the small side of the 54 size specs

Going to do the Peak Epic on it tomorrow then decide what to do

What’s the deal with Di2 on the higher end one? As I’d switch it all to Di2, Is the battery the old external one mounted under the Bb? What’s that about? How’s the cables run?

Compared to the Equilibrium I had previously its 2.1 cm taller at the front and also shorter in the reach which is good for me.

Check your other thread Renton, the Giant Anyroad Comax is a similar style of bike, same stack as Diverge but shorter reach. Not as many models as the Diverge unfortunately.