Doesn’t the new diverge have more tire clearance though? I honestly haven’t kept up with that bike (and have zero interest in it), but I assume they would have added some tire clearance on the recent release. There is a difference between squeezing a 50 into a frame under good conditions vs. having proper clearance for a 50. Again, I don’t know either of these bikes well enough to say the Diverge has more tire clearance, but I just assumed it would.
I think the Crux says 47 while the Diverge says 50. I just don’t see how 3mm would change anything really in real life, especially since the Crux can fit 50s. So the Diverge can fit 53? Is 3mm more that big of a deal? I’m not trying to start a debate, I’m genuinely curious if people would upgrade a bike for 3mm. The frame storage might be nice. But the future shock is enough of a drawback that prevented me from considering it.
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If it’s really only 3mm different, probably not going to make a big difference unless someone is pushing the limits. I think 50 is enough for most situations, I guess it just depends on how tight that 50 is on the crux (for mud conditions) and whether someone wants to push out to a bigger tire on the Diverage. My old checkpoint was only officially rated for 45’s (from what I can remember), but I’d regularly run a 2.2 on the front and 47 rear. Good clearance in dry, but not suitable for mud. I really like running 2.2’s on chunkier courses (w/ some mud clearance), so the Allied and Lauf were the 2 main options I considered before going with the Lauf.
100% with you on that. I miss the frame storage on my Checkpoint, it’s an underrated feature IMO. The futureshock is a deal killer for me also (and I’m a fan of front suspension/compliance, ran a redshift stem for years and now run a Lauf fork).
I think the Diverge is “officially” 50 but with 8 mm of clearance. I have seen it at races with 2.2” tires.
I am hoping / assuming the next gen Crux will fit 50. Now if Conti would make a black chili 50 mm we’d be in business! 
I think Crux will have less clearance than Diverge personally - otherwise, if they make it clear 2.2 idk who would ever buy the Diverge…
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Maybe, but they might also learn from the feedback Trek got on the Checkmate. Trek tried to make the Checkpoint the “adventure” version and the Checkmate their gravel race bike. And the Checkmate fell flat with the limited tire clearance and even their sponsored riders are racing the checkpoint more than the checkmate. The manufacturers should understand by now that racier bikes shouldn’t mean skinnier tires. If they want to draw the line between race and adventure, they should do it with fender/bottle/bag mounts and geometry. I personally wouldn’t buy a frame today that didn’t properly fit a 2.25/57, but that’s because some of my favorite races favor big tire volume. I don’t think that every gravel race bike needs to support 57’s, but I believe it’s a mistake not supporting at least 50 with proper mud clearance. I assume part of the issue is manufacturers holding onto 2x drivetrain support (even though I don’t think Specialized even offers a crux or diverge in 2x anymore). Why continue to support 2x when there is so little market demand that they don’t even offer a stock bike in that config?
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Yea but keep in mind this crux frame was most likely designed and built a while ago and might have predated MTB tire mania. It might have actually been designed around a similar time as the checkpoint/checkmate since the Crux is already 4 years old and they were probably designing 2 years ago given it’s usually on a 3 year cycle . I would bet a lot of money it doesn’t clear 2.2s. There is a reason Specialized did gorilla marketing for the Diverge at Unbound this year. They want they to be the MTB tire bike and the Crux to me the hero gravel bike (IMO). My guess is it will be a more tarmac like gravel bike that is “fast” but can’t clear big MTB tires (50mm max) since it wasn’t that long ago that’s what people wanted and they need to differentiate between the Diverge. Seems like this is what most companies are doing (Trek, Orbea, Pinarello, etc). Happy to be wrong though.
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True but they gave the crux the same clearance as a diverge. So if we follow that logic, the crux will also clear 50m tires.
I have talked to a couple pros who tried the “mtb tire” thing but they have settled in the 45ish range as what they feel is the fastest tire. Of course it depends on the course. Something like Sea Otter 45 mm is where you want to go. Lost & Found in Tahoe you might want a full sus MTB, so bigger is definitely better.
Yes but that was pre “wider = better” mania.
On techy and chunky dirt the Diverge is stable, and confident, it’s also a lot more comfortable on longer dirt rides. And it’ll fit 2.2s with 4mm clearance. For my type of riding it’s a better fit. The Crux is still an awesome bike, and if I had the time to ride outside every day, I would’ve certainly have kept it for mixed media.