What we’ve got here is a £1,000 Specialized Diverge sporting an aluminium frame, carbon fork and Shimano Sora groupset with Tektro Mira mechanical disc brakes.
The Diverge is the company’s adventure, gravel, call-it-what-you-want road bike. It’s designed for tackling rough roads and gravel tracks basically, with bigger tyre clearance, disc brakes and geometry that splits the difference between a road bike and a cyclocross bike.
The most obvious thing about this second cheapest Diverge is the lack of the Future Shock suspension headset that is a key feature of the more expensive Diverge models, and which I was impressed with on the range-topping S-Works Diverge a little while ago.
Clearly, something has to give at this price, but it also removes a bit of complexity and for the cyclist looking for a thousand pound bike, that’s probably no bad thing.
It’s a smart looking frame made from Premium E5 aluminium and shares the same “Open Road Geometry” and dropped seatstays as the pricier Diverge models. A FACT carbon fork plugs into the tapered head tube and there are mudguard mounts and a rear rack can be fitted using the seat collar.
Your thousand pounds gets you Shimano Sora 9-speed shifters and derailleurs with a Sunrace 11-32t cassette and Praxis Alba 2d 48/32t chainset. That’s the sort of gearing that should get you up the steepest climbs and make riding a fully loaded bike that much easier.
Disc brakes are a key feature of the Diverge line and this model is equipped with Tektro Mira mechanical flat mount disc brakes. It’s a shame not to get hydraulic brakes but there are few bikes that offer them at this price.
Wheels are Axis Sport Discs fitted with Espoir Sport 30mm tyres with a double BlackBelt puncture belt. The tyres are a strong indicator of who Specialized has in mind for this model, less adventure and off-road riding and more commuting and touring riding we suspect. It does look like being a great commuting option.
– 23 of the best commuting bikes
There’s nothing to stop you fitting some chunkier gravel of course, and that’s something we’ll look to during the test period. There’s certainly no shortage of good adventure and gravel tyres in the office at the moment!
Elsewhere it’s all Specialized branded equipment, from the Body Geometry Toupe Sport saddle to the S-Wrap tape on an aluminium Shallow Drop handlebar and 3D forged stem.
On the scales this 56cm bike weighs 10kg (22lb). That’s all for now, full review coming soon.
More info at www.specialized.com
10 thoughts on “£1,000 Specialized Diverge E5 Sport – First Look”
A bit steep for an aluminium
A bit steep for an aluminium frame and a sora groupset
Cheap brakes too
Agree, I have the A1 version with same components. The cable brakes are also a bit naff for the price point. I paid less for my Voodo Bizango mountain bike and that has hydraulic brakes.
Doesn’t take wide tyres
I have the first generation Diverge A1 and have been very disappointed that the frame does not take tyres much wider than the standard 30mm. 34mm maximum. The reason for this failing is that clearance between the chain stays is very limited. This new version doesn’t look much different, so if you think you might want to run some nice fat 40mm tyres think again its unlikely they will fit.
The original Diverge launched
The original Diverge launched in 2014 maxed out at 35mm wide tyres, the new model launched last year was upgrade to 42mm wide tyres to reflect the changing trend for wider tyres in the gravel and adventure category
David Arthur @davearthur
but at that point arent they just becoming MTBs though ? I thought the point of gravel bikes was you could ride them on the roads like a road bike, and then off-road on gravel tracks/farm dirt roads and not be worrying about punctures every 50 yards, but you arent going to be wanting to ride a 42 on the road so youve turned it into an off road bike in which case you might as well just get a MTB and go really off road with it.
Crazy expensive for the low
Crazy expensive for the low spec. Naff cassette too. Much better value out there.
Also have the Diverge A1 and
Also have the Diverge A1 and overlap with front wheel is shit but think it’s a better bike than this. Alu, no shock, sora and shit welds for a grand… I got a GT with half half discs and 105 for around £800 which is infinitely better!
Specialized diverge E Sort
Great review David !It remains at the entry level but there is room for improvment in this price range .
Something that strikes me is
Something that strikes me is there isnt many gravel bikes available that could substitute for an endurancewinter road bike yet this is one of them.
Even if it is slightly pricey compared to the spec of the cheapest Canyon Endurace Disc AL its decent value if it saves you buying 2 bikes instead of 1.
The choice of tyres are a bit strange as theyre neither fish nor foul. Commuting tyres for poor roads? Maybe thats a clue as to who this bike is really aimed at beyond the gravel buzzword.
I bought one of these as
I bought one of these as winter trainer/cross/do it all bike and was so disappointed. I had hoped for a fun bike to ride on and off road through the winter and it just wasn’t enjoyable on road. The spec was poor and the brakes were indifferent, struggling to match a decent set of calipers in the dry (it was so depressing to ride I never tried it in the wet). My 61 cm framed bike felt heavy and sluggish, probably not helped by the slow rolling tyres, that I could barely bring myself to ride it, and in the end I just chose not too. Off road, the bike was a different beast and good fun, although ultimately for me, it did nothing as well as my mountain bike off road or as well as my aging winter trainer on road so I go rid.