In September I traded my Crux for a Diverge wanting to jump on the wide tire/smooth is fast train. Almost immediately I regretted it, I missed the way the Crux handled and how fast it felt.. However, I started seeing numbers on the Diverge that just didn’t make sense. I was picking off dirt segments 1 by 1 on the area and started taking some of my own KOMs that I’d earned on the Crux.
This weekend was my first race on The Diverge, and I’m here to say, while Spec clearly markets this as their adventure bike, it will absolutely fly on dirt in race situations.
I’m roughly 6’ 190 lbs, the course was 51 miles of 80/20 cat 2 gravel/asphalt with 2200’ of elevation change, with an average power of 246 watts (257 normized) for just over 2.5 hrs the bike managed a very impressive 20.2mph. I raced on Pathfinder TLR 50s since the course was rather smooth.
This course was pretty flat and there were only 2 significant punches, I thought I’d miss the Crux uphill but honestly the downhill behavior of the Diverge allowed me to attack over the top of climbs and eliminate any gap or even overtake anyone that got away from me uphill.
I think a lighter wheelset will put this thing over the top, and I couldn’t imagine racing without the future shock after having it… just wanted to share my thoughts and experience for anyone looking for a true dirt All Rounder.
I’m eager to see where things go in the future. We rode rigid MTBs and hardtails for far too long, and for some reason, we’re following the same path with gravel bikes. Let’s see some more full-sus gravel bikes..
Yep, I’m a card carrying member of “smooth is fast” club. The hardest part to get over mentally is that we are wired for things to “feel” faster when they are frantic and rough (which is inherently slow). It’s taken me years to recalibrate my brain, but my perception has totally flipped. Whether it’s MTB or gravel, I now feel slow when things are rough and bouncing around, and smooth just feels like every watt put into the pedals is being translated directly into speed.
I run a Lauf with front suspension and almost always w/ 2.2 tires. Probably overkill on really smooth courses, but I can’t find any downside and there are always spots on the course where there is upside.
My mind was blown many years ago when I realized lbs employees were lowering psi to make the bike they wanted to sell feel smoother than the others. Completely changed how I feel about frames and materials.
Always awesome when you make a bike change and it actually pays off in a significant way! I’m curious what tires you had on the crux compared to the diverge. I’m trying to understand the difference better. Geo is a little different, and of course the future shock, but what else?
47 pathfinder pros on my Crux. I’ve everything on my Diverge. Stock 45 tracers, 50 terras, 50 pathfinders, 50 Kenda Crushers, and 2.2 Race Kings. I raced on the 50 Pathfinders.
