Time for me to swap him to Awesomeiseverything 
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or AeroIsAlmostEverything. 
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Gotta say, not sure about the Group though.
I currently run 42 10-52 on my Open Wide, and yes, I use the 52. The new SRAM XPLR appears pretty useless for me. 40 10-44. Smaller top gear, bigger low end gear, a smaller cassette, that is as heavy as the 10-52, and a chain that is not made for off-road.
Don‘t really now what would be a useful combination…
Edit: might actually be looking at Shimano GRX Di2… 48/31 looks like a great option.
Edit 2: just looked into gearing option and I kinda don’t like any of them… the GRX has to small range on the cassettes, the XPLR is a little porky and too small on the range of cassettes, too.
The best option would still be mullet for me, and that would just be the same again…
Cured myself very quickly 
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forum is doing some funky stuff to photos lately… I’ve had them rotated 90 and 180 degrees. Cropping solves it.
To all the bike geo folks - so if I’m following along it seems the recent Diverge update it went gravel/MTB direction, and Crux went cross/gravel. Is that right?
For the crux yeah. Spec is following what Santa Cruz did with the Stigmata.
Oddly enough I have seen a lot of Asperos at local CX racing in CO this fall. Getting more and more intrigued by it
In Australia I think that translates to $6,200. WTF. In 2020 the Crux with Rival was $4,100, but I did pay $4,100 for the 2021 Crux with Apex, but that is because the 2020 stock was gone when I had enough money. I would pay $4,100 for the 2022 Crux with Apex as that’s probably my limit for the amount of money I can spend but starting a $6,200 no way. I regret buying the wrong size Trek Crockett in 2020, which to date has been my favorite bike (no longer sold in Australia). The Crockett cost me $2,100 running Rival. Yes the Crockett is Aluminum but the ride was awesome and all I needed and again stock ran out before I sold the larger size to by the right size. For those that can afford the 2022 Crux wish you all the best and enjoy : )
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Yes this bike is more intriguing that I had planned/hoped. Still kind of mad that they have abandoned CX.
Here is the new geo:
And here is the old geo:
HTA and STA basically the same. BB drops 3mm. Reach extends by 9mm while stack drops 4mm. Wheelbase extends by 7mm (over what was already a fairly long wheelbase for cross). Crux now has basically the same measurements as the Aspero, except with 6mm more wheelbase and 4mm higher BB. This is definitely getting toward the ‘progressive’ side of gravel, but not as much as the new checkpoint. I’m not sure 72mm BB drop is quite low enough (compared to 80 on the diverge and 76 on the checkpoint/aspero).
I’ve been struggling between the aspero and the new checkpoint (longer reach and a bit more stack). Now I guess I need to add the crux into the mix.
Edit: The $7500 Aspero comes with a powermeter, as does the $8300 Checkpoint SLR7. No mention of a PM on the Specialized site for the $8000 Crux Pro.
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Yeah, that seems like a reasonable summation.
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Love my aspero
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I too use the full range on my Ekar-equipped Open Wide. The Crux caught my attention (I’d looked hard at the Aethos) but given how I ride I’ll stick with the current bike and not spend the $.
I compared the Crux to the Aspero, stack and reach are almost identical (2mm delta on the stack). Same head angle, 6mm delta on the wheelbase. I found both bikes to be serious candidates for the one bike to do it all - gravel, road and cyclocross. Currently riding a roubaix, might end up selling it and getting the Crux…
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One quick caveat to @eduardorbraga post (and yes, I know I sound like a broken record 
), but the BB is slightly higher on the new Crux than the Aspero (~4mm for the majority of sizes).
A small, but potentially meaningful, difference.
But agreed 100% that they are similar in the nature of their intended use and both would be excellent choices for a “quiver killer” bike (although I vehemently disagree with that concept. 
)
Yes, i didn’t check that, for some reason it wasn’t available on geometry geeks. But even similar models have similar weights (size 56), according to google.
I like the “one to rule them all” idea for a few reasons…I don’t have much space to store multiple bikes at home (road + MTB is already borderline in my apartment) and when I had more then one bike (i.e. trail and XC bike, road and CX bike) I would ride one 90% of the time while the other only collects dust.
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Does the lack of aero make the crux slower then the aspero?
Good question…I know Cervelo makes some (non-quantified?) aero claims re: the Aspero, but I don’t see how it is a particularly aero design, really. the DT is “squoval”, and while the ST has a cut-out for the rear wheel, the overall shape doesn’t seem very aero.
The only places where I could see an aero advantage over the Crux would be the dropped seatstays and maybe the fork (but I haven’t seen a new Crux frame up close, so can’t say for sure).
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I’m liking this bike more and more. I rarely if ever ride my Boone other than CX races and a big limiter is the tire size. This has more than enough and weighs a good bit less. I’m fine with the gearing, the 48/31 GRX is perfect for my area, and even a 1x would be fine.
The problem now is pricing, and more problematic, availability. I’m not going to spring for the S-Works that really only offers a small weight savings, but there really aren’t much of the lower levels available in my size. Hoping to get by a dealer and try to get some estimates.
Dan over at Bicycling had a great review of the new Crux with actual real life testing in racing vs James at CT who just rides on gravel roads around Boulder. Dan actually put it through the ringer. Would love to see more testers out there racing the bikes as well and comparing.
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This is a really intriguing take. Even the 1x would probably serve 80 or 90% of road riding, realistically. They may have just obsolete’d the Aethos … 
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The biggest thing I could see holding it back from eating into Aethos sales is the gearing compatibility. 48/31 GRX I believe is the biggest official option, though I wonder if you could fit a 50/34 with a spacer. A lot of people aren’t going to like that. I’m sure we’ll see some people find out what fits, and it may just be an issue when using bigger tires.
I would not be surprised if they on purpose made it not work with 50/34, just because people would then get it and use it for road and gravel = people wouldn’t need to buy 2 bikes = less sales…
That would really suck though, since it would really be best of both worlds if someone wants a gravel bike that they could use as a lightweight climbing bike as well…
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