2019 Specialized Diverge

Hop on the dirt path down the street, cruise through town to your favorite café, or go on a proper overnight adventure ride—whatever your plans may be, the Diverge is here to let you do what you want.

The Diverge is more capable than ever. And with the constant goal to best meet your needs, we took your number one request into account—tire clearance. The new frame will comfortably fit up to 700x42mm tires or 650b x 47mm tires. Along with tire clearance, weight was a large factor in the development, and taking some design cues from the development of the Roubaix, we developed a FACT 9r carbon frame that’s one of the lightest in its category.

Next up, we moved away from a traditional ‘cross geometry, instead opting for something that hasn’t been seen before—our Open Road Geometry. You can think of it as a road version of modern trail bike geometry. It provides playful handling and predictable steering for endless dirt skids and mid-corner drifts. The geo features a bottom bracket that's over a half-centimeter lower than the previous Diverge, a slacked-out head tube angle, short chainstays, and a short wheelbase. These changes make for a bike that's not only fun in the dirt, but also performs well on the road.

And while riding gravel and dirt roads on a road bike may add to the adventure, there’s only so much that wider tires with lower pressures can absorb, in terms of bumps. With this in mind, we implemented a new version of our Future Shock into the Diverge design. It not only soaks up bumps with ease, but also adds the benefit of extremely predictable handling. That's because the wheelbase isn’t lengthening when you hit a bump, so the front end of the Diverge keeps the same effective head tube angle. In other words, when you dive hard into a turn, you won’t be surprised by under-steer or sloppy handling. Unlike the original Future Shock (found on the Roubaix), the Diverge's version features a progressive spring that makes this technology more suitable for off-road applications, where stiffer suspension is often needed to soak-up larger bumps and obstacles.

Adding to its multifaceted talents, we topped it off with three water bottle mounts, plus mounts for racks and fenders. So while it’s one of the most smile-inducing bikes you’ll ever shred fire roads on, it’s equally adept at bikepacking, commuting, or even a spin to your local brewery. For the spec, we've made sure to add components that are not only durable, but will perform over the long run—Shimano Tiagra shifting paired with hydraulic disc brakes, 700x38mm Sawtooth tires, and durable Axis Sport Disc wheels.