Bike at Bedtime - 2021 Specialized Diverge Expert Carbon Gravel Bike

The Specialized Diverge comes in quite a few interesting designs and we absolutely love the look of this, the Expert model that is currently in for testing. Let’s have a closer look at this carbon gravel bike.

At about this time last year, Specialized announced an update to the popular line of Diverge gravel bikes. They updated the front end with the Future Shock 2.0 suspension system, the geometry got a tweak, tyre clearance was upped and the down tube now even acts as a storage box.

Future Shock 2.0 differs from its predecessor in featuring a hydraulic damper that provides both compression and rebound damping to control the spring movement and a dial where the headset cap would usually be to adjust that damping. 

Specialized is quite keen to point out that the system is fitted above the head tube means that Future Shock doesn't suspend the bike, it suspends the rider.

They say that the system isn’t affected by your pedalling, so you shouldn’t be bobbing along down the road. We’ll certainly be testing out that claim during testing.

The bike that we have came with a Shimano GRX Di2 groupset. This 1X setup makes use of the wide range GRX cassette and the clutch system within the GRX rear derailleur. The chainring is a 40T and the cassette is an 11-42T.

Specialized uses a riser bar to give the rider a more relaxed riding position. That should hopefully ease the strain on your lower back on those super long days on the bike.

Moving to the down tube, Specialized has placed a rubber cover on the underside where the down tube meets the bottom bracket. That is there simply to guard the carbon tube against rock strikes.

On the top side of the down tube, you’ll find the SWAT box. Here you can store bulkier stuff like jackets or maybe even beer. The compartment protects this stuff from rain and dirt too.

Extra clearance has been worked into the Diverge frame and you can now fit up to a 47mm 700C tyre or a 2.1” 650b tyre.

The extra space has been created by the use of a short 15mm-long section of solid carbon beam which gives around 5mm more clearance than possible with a tube.

DT Swiss provides the wheels in the form of the G540. This has a 24mm inner width to provide support to the 38mm Pathfinder Pro 2Bliss tubeless-ready tyres.

We should also mention the rather tasty paintwork which Specialized calls the “Raspberry/Redwood/Black/Chrome/Wild Ferns.” Catchy.

One of these will set you back a cool £5,250, but will it impress us? Time will tell.