Test: Appropriate to the current campaign "Women's Ride Month“ from Specialized we tested one of the current MTB women’s models from the Californian manufacturer in the past few weeks. The Specialized Era Comp Carbon is beautiful, fast and potent - actually recommendable all round - with a few small blemishes.
Fact check
[tab:Overview]RRP: 3.899€
Weight: 11,5kg (size M, tubeless)
frame material: Carbon/Aluminium
wheel size: 29"
Suspension travel front/rear: 100 / 100mm
Manufacturer site
[tab:Geometry] [easytable]Dimension, S, M, L
Horizontal top tube, 546mm, 575mm, 601mm
Seat tube length, 382mm, 420mm, 445mm
Effective seat angle, 75,75,75
Steering angle,70.5,70.5,70.5
Head tube length, 90mm, 95mm, 105mm
Chain stay length, 448mm, 448mm, 448mm
Wheelbase, 1076mm, 1108mm, 1135mm
Stack,589mm,598mm,607mm
Reach, 388mm, 415mm, 438mm
[/easytable] [tab:Equipment] [easytable]component, model
Fork, RockShox Reba RL 29 Solo Air 15mm
Damper, FOX/Specialized remote Mini-Brain
Hubs, Specialized Hi Lo 15mm/142x12mm
Rims, Roval 29
Tires, S-Works Fast Trak Control 29×2.2″/Specialized Fast Trak Control 29×2.0″
Brake, Magura MTS
Brake discs, Magura Storm SL 160mm/160mm
Rear derailleur,Shimano XT Shadow Plus SGS
Front derailleur, SRAM X7 2-speed
Shifter,Shimano SLX M670
Crank, SRAM S-1250 34/22
Cassette,SRAM PG 1030 11-36
Stem, Specialized 6° 70mm
Handlebar, Specialized Flat 8° backsweep
Seat post, Specialized 27.2mm
Saddle, Specialized Women's Myth Comp
[/easytable] [tab:END]The frame
The Era Carbon Comp is the cheapest of the three carbon models of the marathon/crosscountry racer for women. In order to keep costs down, Specialized, like many other manufacturers, uses a mix of materials for the frame materials. While the main frame is made of fine carbon, aluminum is used on the rear triangle - the frame weighs a few grams more than the full carbon models, but is still significantly lighter than those with an aluminum main frame. Visually, the Era Carbon is a feast for the eyes anyway. The massive head tube area and the voluminous down tube harmonize perfectly with the rather filigree top tube and the organically curved lines.
The cables and lines routed inside the main frame contribute to the simple, tidy appearance of the black/pink frame in our case. Thanks to the integrated liner, the additional effort often associated with cables running through the frame is kept within pleasantly narrow limits. A 142x12mm thru-axle is used on the rear triangle – this ensures a secure fit, increased rigidity and disc brakes that rub less quickly after the wheel has been removed. As with most of the current full-suspension models from Specialized, the Era Carbon Comp also uses the FSR rear triangle concept, which has been available for many years and which is intended to perfectly harmonize effectiveness and comfort. Strictly speaking, it's a 4-bar linkage with a Horst link, but the special FSR link is supposed to give the Specialized models a head start over the competition - the test on the trail will later clarify whether it works.
Clever and extremely practical detailed solutions round off the successful overall impression of the frame: The down tube is protected on its underside by a thick and impact-resistant film from stones thrown up and possible damage. This is particularly useful for carbon frames - but many other manufacturers still do without it. Nice that this is not the case with Specialized. In addition, the framework is part of the so-called SWAT concept (Storage, Water, Ago, Ttools) from Specialized. Storage options integrated into the frame should enable the rider to carry the most important things, such as drinking water or tools, without always having to go trail hunting with a backpack. Such a solution makes a lot of sense, especially on a bike designed for marathon or racing use like the Era. For example, there is a small multi-tool above the damper mount on the main frame, which has the most important tools for quick repairs on the go. It can be removed in a few seconds and disappeared back into the frame in no time at all after use. It snaps into place with a clearly audible click and from then on sits securely in place and waits for its next use.
The Geometry
Opinions are often divided when it comes to women’s bikes: Many say that special bikes for women are unnecessary and that the right men’s models are just as suitable. Others, on the other hand, have been swearing by bikes specially tailored to the needs of the female sex for years. Specialized has many years of experience in the manufacture and design of women's bikes - and that pays off with the Era. In a way, the Era is meant to be the women's Specialized Epic - a fast, no-holds-barred cross-country bullet.
On the one hand, the sizes of the Specialized Era are of course tailored to rather small body sizes. In size S, for example, the seat tube measures only 382mm, the top tube short 546mm. For the smallest size, there is a really low standover height of just 726mm - such a frame is easy to control even for very small people, despite the large 29″ tires. In order to achieve such dimensions, Specialized had to dig deep into their bag of tricks and put in a lot of effort. For example, the different sizes have different bottom bracket heights and even the spring deflection of the damper and fork increases or decreases with the different sizes. While the Era in M and L offers 100mm of spring travel at the front and shock absorbers, the size S only has 90mm - in combination with the 90mm short head tube, an acceptable saddle elevation can still be achieved despite the large 29″ tires - a decisive criterion for many performance-oriented cross-country riders.
The equipment
But enough of the words about the frame - let's get to the equipment of the Specialized Era Carbon Comp. The drive comes mainly from Shimano. A Shimano XT in the Shadow Plus version is used as the rear derailleur - very nice! The dampened rear derailleur reduces chain slap and drops to an absolute minimum. The shifters also come from the XT series and offer the smooth shifting feel typical of Shimano, but without missing the necessary precision. For the front derailleur and crank, Specialized relies on the Shimano competition from SRAM: Although the front derailleur from the X7 series works well, we would have wished for a higher-quality, lighter X4000 front derailleur on a bike that costs almost €9. The same applies to the crank: The model bears the designation S-1250 and is produced especially for Specialized and, like the front derailleur, moves at X7 level. Here, too, a lighter model would have been desirable. Functionally, however, as I said, there is nothing wrong with the built-in drive components. With 34/22 teeth, the selected gradation is excellent for relaxed trail hunting, but a little larger could certainly be selected for one or the other female rider.
The chassis of the Specialized Era Carbon Comp leaves nothing to be desired: In the front there is a RockShox Reba RL with a 15mm thru-axle and 100mm (M/L) or 90mm (S) spring travel. In recent years, the Reba at RockShoxk has become more and more a competitor for the in-house SID. The two cross-country top models now share the casting and are therefore very close together in terms of weight - the slightly cheaper Reba doesn't have to hide from its big sister in terms of performance either.
A damper from Fox is responsible for the suspension travel in the rear. As a special highlight, it comes with the Brain damping developed by Specialized. This is responsible for ensuring that the rear remains taut on level ground and absorbs hardly any energy even when pedaling out of the saddle, while the mechanism then provides the full 100mm of spring travel on rougher terrain. This is accomplished by an inertia valve mounted outside the damper, which can differentiate between the different characteristics of the forces emanating from the rider, for example when pedaling out of the saddle and bumps on the trail. The threshold for this transition can be individually adapted to the requirements by means of a controller. If you are interested in the technology behind this damping, you can on Youtube inform in detail. In any case, we were curious to see whether and how well the Brain damping in the Era worked.
The braking system in the Specialized Era Comp Carbon 29 comes from Germany, more precisely from Swabia, namely from Magura. Like the crank, the MTS model, which was specially produced for Specialized, is technically identical to the Magura MT4, but comes in an adapted guise. The brake is combined with Magura Storm SL brake discs, each with 160mm. The braking feel takes some getting used to at first, because the Magura has a slightly softer pressure point than the competition from Shimano, SRAM and Co. Many riders appreciate the initially somewhat spongy feeling after the familiarization phase, because the braking force dosage is much easier this way. We find the decision to use a small 160mm disc at the front a bit strange. Because in combination with the large 29″ wheels, increased forces act on the brakes and a 180mm disc would only have provided a little additional weight.
We really liked the wheels on the Era Comp Carbon. Like many of the add-on parts (handlebars, stem, seat post), they are made in-house. The Specialized Hi Lo hubs used on many models are used. These make a well-made impression and the rear wheel hub has a pleasant, clearly perceptible but not too intrusive freewheeling sound. The rims come from Roval - the brand also belongs to Specialized. With an inner width of 21mm, they are prepared for tires up to 2,3″ - they are also tubeless-ready. Our test bike came fully assembled in a tubeless setup. The wheel set weighs approx. 1800g without rim tape - a very good value in view of the key data.
On the trail
No more theory - off to the forest with the Era! From the very first turn of the pedals, the really irresistible forward drive of the black and pink gem is noticeable. The very good tires from Specialized on the fairly light wheels and the steep angles make the Era a racing machine even on a leisurely after-work ride. You just want to go fast, it feels right - the Era breathes speed through every pore. The geometry of our test bike in size M fits our 1,73cm tall tester like a glove. In particular, the low front with the short head tube and the flat bar handlebars is a source of satisfaction for many smaller riders.
There is absolutely nothing wrong with the drive - the Shimano XT rear derailleur works as quietly and reliably as usual and the Shadow Plus damping is simply fun. The initially criticized X7 components do their job absolutely reliably. Of course, we were particularly excited about the presentation of the Brain damping in the rear triangle, which had been so highly praised beforehand. Admittedly, we hardly noticed the effect, especially at the beginning - the Era felt like a stiff racing bike, but neither on the climbs, on the trail nor on the road did we notice a noticeable difference to conventional cushioning. Then we started tackling the Brain Fade setting on the inertia valve - and lo and behold: now we're feeling the change! After some testing and adjustment, we found the right threshold for the valve. On level ground, the damper remains extremely taut even when pedaling out of the saddle and hardly deflects, while on rough trails it opens up the damping and frees up the suspension travel. This works really well in most cases, but there was one or the other situation when the "Brain" took a short break and passed the first rough hit unsprung into the rear. This mostly happened when we were out on leisurely, less demanding trails for a long time and then switched to a trail. But in 95% of the cases the system worked as desired and was a real relief.
So everything good? Nearly! The only major point of criticism that was repeatedly noticeable during our test was the brake system, or more precisely, the undersized disc on the front wheel. Shorter descents by our 72kg rider were enough to push the front brake system to its limits and noticeably reduce performance. This is annoying and unnecessary - a 180mm disc would certainly provide enough reserves. But if the worst comes to the worst, the pane can also be changed quickly and inexpensively.
Conclusion
So what's the bottom line for the Specialized Era Comp Carbon 29? Great frame with clever detailed solutions such as the integrated multi-tool, very good rear end with Brain damping that works excellently in most cases and a very good wheelset. Unfortunately, the attachments, crank and front derailleur are not on the level that you would expect from a bike in this price range. In addition, the 160mm brake disc at the front seems undersized to us - despite the rather light rider weight and moderate area of use. But if you don't mind the small points of criticism, you get a great women's bike that really deserves its name.
Thomas says
Hallo,
I'm looking for a fully brained. The 2017 model in L is currently available from a supplier for €1999.
I am 176 cm tall and too small for my weight 🙁 95 kg and would like to see the 70.ger kg again 🙁
Can a man also ride this bike? Or are there any things that wouldn't be so good.
Greeting
Thomas