The Big Red S Gets Fiber In Its Diet

Back in July, Specialized Bicycles invited members of the global cycling scribe community to the hills above Santa Cruz, California, where said scribes were then treated to a few days of heavy drinking and 2006 product introductions.

While there was a whole lot of time spent going over Bold New Graphics, there were also some veeerrry interesting new bikes to be fondled. Most notably, there was an across the board shift toward new high-end carbon fiber bikes in the Big Red S lineup, ranging from road bikes to five-inch travel all-mountain rigs.

Taking the F.A.C.T carbon fiber technology first introduced on the Tarmac and Roubaix road models, Specialized coined a new term - AZ1 (as one, get it?), to describe a new sequential curing process that allows several structurally divergent carbon fiber pieces to be cured into a single frame, allowing for optimal torsion and deflection characteristics – and trotted out some new mountain bikes, as well as a new road bike so sexy that it made me want to start shaving my legs again. Why? According to Specialized, bikes can be made a little bit lighter with the new carbon fiber, but the real gain comes in enhanced torsional and lateral strength, greater comfort in some cases, and the ability to more accurately “tune” the chassis dynamics of a given frame. They’ll also cost a couple grand more than their aluminum brethren. That said, here they be:

Stumpjumper Carbon HT.
Hell, yes! The hardtail ain’t dead, after all. In fact, it’s now a very, very light, very snappy bike that is a bona fide x-c assassin. Frame weight borders on the silly – 1150grams (that’s a shade under 2.5 pounds for you old-schoolers) – and the bike isn’t the kind of thing you look at and decide should be your “comfort” ride. It’s steep, fast, a little sketchy, and not one to suffer fools gladly. Pay attention. Aim for the podium. Suffer your pains in the hope of glory, that kind of stuff.

FSR Epic Carbon
The Epic, both this swank carbon one and the aluminum version (front triangle only, by the way. The rear triangles on both bikes are made from aluminum), received a lot of attention this go-round. Rear travel has been bumped up to 100mm, and the platform equipped Fox “brain” rear shock now features a broader range of tuning, from “a lot like a hardtail” all the way down to “only slightly sticky”. However, it still rides and handles very much like the previous Epic. That is to say, it isn’t in any way to be confused with an all-rounder trail bike. It’s a racer. Seating position is “bend over and take it”, and the ride is quick to the point of sketchy.

Back to back comparisons between the carbon and the aluminum Epics were performed, and to my fat senses, it was hard to differentiate the two, although the aluminum ride may have felt a teeny bit more wiggly. But by that same token, the tires might not have been inflated the same, either. Frame weight, for frame and shock, is a claimed 2300 grams (just a hair over 5lbs).

FSR Stumpjumper Carbon
Also receiving a fair share of attention, the Venerable Stumpy (25 years in 2006, baby) got the carbon front triangle option (for a 2450gram frame weight), a travel bump to 130mm, and a revised “brain” for the rear shock – as with the Epic, allowing riders to tune the stickiness almost all the way out. While some other companies are slackening geometries back as wheel travel increases, Specialized (along with Intense, Scott, and a few others) are sticking with steeper head angles and tighter wheelbases. On the swooping, oak-lined singletrack at Wilder Ranch, this bike was an absolute kick in the pants to ride. Made me feel like a superhero.

I’m willing to bet that the bike can get a little squirrely when the going gets really rocky and really fast (it weighs almost nothing and ain’t anywhere near freeride geometry), but for most trails in most places, this bike is more fun than should be legal. As for the fibrous magic, well, there weren’t any carbon ones available to ride, so we had to make do with the alloy version.

Given that this bike only weighs about a quarter pound more than the Epic, and that it can be tuned pretty dang firm, I wouldn’t be surprised to see a lot more of these bikes showing up as endurance race rigs.

S-Works Tarmac
I know, we’re all about mountain bikes, yadayadayada, but damn, this might have been the sweetest bike that Specialized rolled out. 895gram frame, 300gram fork, 349gram, one piece, carbon fiber bar/stem combo, and a finished bike that could easily build up sub-15 pounds. They let us hairy legs out on them for an afternoon, and aside from being sickfast and sillylight, it was surprising to note how good a job the carbon frame did of isolating road buzz while at the same time being a stable and sprint friendly machine.

My experience with road bikes this light has been that they have traditionally been either unpleasantly harsh and sketchy handling, or nerve wrackingly noodly and sketchy handling. This was neither. Civilized, comfortable, and still faster than any of those bad girls momma warned you about back before puberty hit.

IS carbon fiber the sign of things to come from Specialized? Is everything going that way? Judging from the fact that all of these bikes carried a hefty price tag increase over their aluminum stablemates, not necessarily. The weight savings are really not that huge compared to what Specialized is already achieving with aluminum. However, as they chase continually elusive performance goals, it’s apparent that carbon fiber might be taking the place of aluminum at Specialized’s flagship level.