Product news: With the newly developed "Future Shock" system, the new Specialized Diverge STR is now also striving for its motto "Smoother is faster" at the rear. Does the unusual model represent a new type of gravel bike?
The Future Shock System from Specialized is already well known and is now not only used on off-road models, but can also be found across almost the entire product range of the US manufacturer. Originally, Future Shock was developed to win street races on cobblestones. That's all well and good on the road, but the adjustable 20 mm front travel makes at least as much sense off-road. Because the opportunity to benefit from a few centimeters of travel without having to sacrifice speed, control and precision is worth its weight in gold, especially in gravel.
Specialized Diverge STR - Future Shock Fully
With the new Specialized Diverge STR, however, the Future Shock technology has not only been taken up again at the front, but also transferred the entire concept to the rear of the bike and thus developed its first Gravel-Fully, which has spring travel with 20 mm at the front and 30 mm at the rear, so that the ride over hill and dale is even more pleasant. They continue to rely on the fact that the suspension travel only starts with the driver and not already on the frame, which means that less energy and speed is lost. In addition, the Future Shock System offers an extremely weight-reduced setup compared to conventional fully solutions. The spring system is fully adjustable both at the front and rear and can be set individually to the weight, size or driving style of the driver.
How does Future Shock work on the rear triangle? The system consists of the clearly visible damper and an insert hidden in the seat tube called "Frame Post", which is available in nine different degrees of hardness. The frame post, in turn, houses the seat post, which is not a dedicated component. The Fame Post compensates for bumps in the road from the rear wheel with a backward/down movement, with the system offering up to 30 mm of travel. The adjustable damper in the top tube ensures that the movement is controlled so that the rider is not catapulted forward by rebounding too quickly, for example.
Specialized Diverge STR - Much more comfort, hardly more weight
With the S-Works Diverge STR Fact 11r carbon frame, the Diverge STR is, according to the manufacturer, the “most capable drop bar bike” that has ever been developed. The frame, which is only 100 grams heavier than the "normal" Diverge, is impressive, which is a real announcement for a fully. With a balanced geometry, you want to offer as much flexibility as possible to support any adventure and plan. In order to further improve the comfort and usability of the new Diverge STR, the tire freedom of the bike has also been raised to a new level, which means that you can now ride tires with up to 47 mm or 650 mm with 52B. So you even become real competition for many a mountain bike.
Prepared for all adventures
The new Specialized Diverge STR is not only equipped for any adventure in terms of riding characteristics, but also ensures that you always have important equipment and repair equipment with you with its integrated SWAT compartment.
Specialized Diverge STR – The models
Another model is the Diverge STR Pro with SRAM Force, Red, GX Eagle Mix and Roval Terra CL wheels for 9.500 euros.