As you may have heard or seen, Specialized debuted a new CruX at the 2021 Sea Otter Classic. Before the embargo date, we saw one in Baltimore with Day 2 winner Maghalie Rochette and also just hanging out at a local bike shop.
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When Specialized updated the CruX in 2017, the frame received updated geometry and took on a new silhouette compared to the previous version. We first saw that version at Sea Otter as well. It remains one of our favorite all-around rigs, and one of our most “borrowed” photographs, either disc-side or drive-side:
If you’re lucky enough to own a 2018 Specialized S-Works CruX cyclocross bike, you’ll probably want to keep riding past sunset. © Cyclocross Magazine
Four years later, one of the oldest bikes in Specialized’s catalog (ignoring repurposed names) receives an update with new geometry and a new focus. There’s been plenty of hype and strong opinions by observers, but let’s dive into whether the bike should get your blood pressure up, in a good or bad way.
The new 2022 Specialized CruX gravel/cyclocross bike has received a few tweaks, and a lot of hype and hysteria. © C. Lee / Cyclocross Magazine
Unlike Trek, with its latest Boone remains an elite cyclocross race bike designed for top-level racing with a stated maximum tire clearance of just 33mm, or Bianchi, which rebranded Wout van Aert’s winning cyclocross bike as a new gravel model, Specialized has worried some as abandoning true cyclocross race bikes. The company sees the future of drop bars off-road on gravel rather than between the tape. As such, the new CruX is designed as a gravel race bike first, with some nods toward cyclocross racing.
The largest departure in the redesign is a focus on what’s described as more stable geometry, with a lower bottom bracket drop and longer wheelbase across all sizes.
Here’s the actual geometry table:
The adjustments have been polarizing, with strong reactions to the headlines, mostly due to the labels of “gravel” and “cyclocross” being thrown around.
If we can forget labels for a second, a lower BB drop, especially with cyclocross and gravel tire sizes and rim widths increasing, and 98% of bike owners never lining up for a UCI tire-measured event, gets riders back to the same bottom bracket height as a few years ago. Sure, a UCI pro on 33mm tires might notice an extra pedal strike in a deep muddy rut, but who can blame Specialized for prioritizing retail-paying customers over sponsored athletes and retrogrouches?
As for the longer front center, it’s not like the CruX gets slacker, with head angles staying constant, and trail growing by just 2mm on a 56cm size, putting it back in line with a 2009 Specialized Tricross. Freaking out over 2mm? To put that in perspective, the front-center of the new 56cm CruX is shorter and the head tube angle steeper than Kerry Werner’s Kona Major Jake cyclocross bike, which doesn’t seem to hold him back from riding between the tape.
Specialized CruX bridgeless rear seatstay arrangement is clean. © C. Lee / Cyclocross Magazine
Remember when everyone was up in arms with Todd Wells winning National Championships on gravel bikes? Okay, that didn’t happen, and a few holdovers at Specialized must remember that. The Specialized Tricross cyclocross bike, developed by Andy Jacques Maynes as an early “all road” bike, with its long 44cm chainstays, ultra-low bottom bracket (69mm drop, quite low for the time), long trail and long wheelbase had no problem cleaning up the medals at the National Championships under dozens of sponsored riders. Meanwhile, Redline’s winning Conquest at the same time featured 43.5cm chainstays, a typical “gravel” number these days, and yet somehow racers navigated tight corners and made it up steep climbs. More recently, Tobin Ortenblad on his “gravelfied” Stigmata and racers on the updated Pivot Vault have adapted to the lower BB drops on a diversity of cyclocross courses.
We look at the direction of these drop bar, off-road bikes and will say one thing. We’d rather be on a bike with a longer front-center and lower BB than one with longer chainstays, but memories are short and “gravel” is now a movement that has the purists concerned. Those of us who have ridden all iterations of mixed terrain bikes over the years look at such adjustments as minor tweaks that shouldn’t be a reason for racers to sell their own rig, jump on a waiting list or worry about the future of cyclocross bikes.
Gravel Star Moriah Wilson with her new CruX. © C. Lee / Cyclocross Magazine
Cyclocross racers Maghalie Rochette and Cody Kaiser seem to like their new CruX bikes, while gravel star Moriah Wilson proudly showed off her own rig for us. All are sponsored racers of course, while Kaiser’s dad also sells Specialized in his store.
Our eagle eyes spotted Maghalie Rochette’s new 2022 Specialized CruX in her van. © B. Grant / Cyclocross Magazine
Find the new models to be a bit long for you in terms of reach? You could size down or opt for a shorter stem length.
In addition to the new geometry, gravel enthusiasts and cyclocrossers without a pit bike or crew will find tire clearance to their liking, for both modern gravel tires and generous mud clearance. That’s smart, because most retail-paying customers will fit that customer description and aren’t UCI cyclocross racers. The frame and fork sport greater tire clearance, with room for up to 47mm tires on a 700c rim, or 2.1″ tires with 650b. That’s a lot of clearance to keep you rolling when conditions get messy. Most cyclocrossers will opt for an extra pedal strike while pedaling over carrying a mud-clogged bike with “traditional” cyclocross geometry.
Worried the company has abandoned cyclocross? For what it’s worth, you can still find the bike under “cyclocross” on the company’s website.
Super wide tire clearance, an extra set of bottle mounts and a metal flake downtube protection strip are featured on the new Specialized CruX. © C. Lee / Cyclocross Magazine
Specialized CruX 12r carbon fork with a 700 x 38mm Pathfinder tire. There is clearance for 700 x 47 or 650B x 2.1″. © C. Lee / Cyclocross Magazine
Beyond geometry tweaks, Specialized also makes some concessions to practicality with its new 2022 CruX. As with other current Specialized frames, the new CruX trades the BB30-based OSBB bottom bracket found on previous versions for a BSA threaded bottom bracket. That’s easier for the average home mechanic to work on.
The 2022 Specialized CruX goes back to threaded bottom brackets. © B. Grant / Cyclocross Magazine
Additionally, while the CruX retains a standard 27.2mm seat post, the internal wedge has been dropped in favor of an external collar.
The 2022 Specialized CruX gets a traditional seat clamp. © B. Grant / Cyclocross Magazine
Cable routing and derailleur mounting are also new, with the CruX utilizing the same interchangeable plate on the down tube as the Aethos for cable management. The frame is 2x capable, but rather than using a 31.8mm clamp the new CruX has a removable mounting tab for those who prefer a 1x setup.
The new Specialized CruX has ‘standard’ internal control line routing. The plate covers the shift cable entry point, unsued on the S-Works with Red AXS wireless shifting. © C. Lee / Cyclocross Magazine
Unlike the previous version that utilized the same S-Works level 11r layup across the entire product family (with some stickering 10r sticker errors), the new CruX really does come in 10r carbon, with a pricey, lighter 12r S-Works version on the top-shelf model and frameset option. All models share the same FACT 12r fork. Of course, the S-Works CruX is lighter on the scale and the wallet. The S-Works 12r frame can weigh as little as 725g, but will take several Gs from your bank account as well. The frame retails for $5k, and a complete bike for $12k. Have trouble justifying the price and frame tweaks? Your shoulder will appreciate it on run-ups.
All complete bikes will be SRAM-equipped, with the base model featuring a mechanical Rival 1 drivetrain and retailing at $4200. Shimano builds might be coming, but are likely supply-chain delayed.
As with many cycling-related products the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has impacted the availability of the new bike. Dealers were offered a pre-order window for 900 units available at launch, with additional units expected to arrive in late December.
There are 4 models of the 2022 CruX:
FACT 10r carbon frame, 12r carbon fork Rival 11 s mechanical 40t front with 10-42 cassette DT Swiss G540 aluminum rim
The $4200 2022 Specialized CruX Comp as seen at a local bike shop. © B. Grant / Cyclocross Magazine
FACT 10r carbon frame, 12r carbon fork Rival AXS 40t front with 10-44 cassette Roval Terra C wheels
The $6k 2022 Specialized CruX Expert Gravel / Cyclocross Bike with SRAM AXS Rival.
FACT 10r carbon frame, 12r carbon fork Force AXS 40t front with 10-44 cassette Roval Terra CL wheels
The $8k 2022 Specialized CruX Pro Gravel / Cyclocross Bike with SRAM AXS Force.
FACT 12r carbon frame (725 grams), 12r fork (400 grams) Red AXS with AXS power meter crank 40t front with 10-44 cassette Roval Terra CLX wheels
The $12k 2022 S-Works Specialized CruX Gravel / Cyclocross Bike with SRAM AXS Red.
The complete S-Works bike weight is claimed to be 7.25 kg. We spied Maghalie Rochette with her new CruX that is reportedly at that weight. The claim to be the lightest cyclocross/gravel bike is obviously with the S-Works 12r frameset.
We think the biggest story is not the geometry tweaks but that we didn’t see a model that lowers the barrier to entry to the sport for those on a tight budget. Sure, Specialized is a for-profit entity, and parts are hard to come by these days, so going after the wealthy might be the best short-term strategy, but we shed a tear that a cyclocross or gravel racer needs to plunk down $4200 to get any entry-level CruX.
An alloy model with affordable parts could help pour more people into the funnel. You used to be able to get a CruX E5 alloy complete bike for $1400, and we hope such models come back for the unsponsored amateurs without $4-12k in disposable income. Future bike sales depend on a healthy, growing sport, regardless of how we label the bike.
Stay tuned for a full review.
Brandon Grant and Clifford Lee contributed to this article.
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