A new Specialized Crux has been raced at the Gralloch gravel event in Scotland over the weekend, with overhauled aerodynamics and beefed up tyre clearance.
The gravel bike, which was ridden to victory in the women’s UCI race by Geerike Schreurs of the Specialized Off Road Team, bears more than a passing resemblance to the Specialized Tarmac SL7 road race bike, but with space for far wider rubber.
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It’s impossible to tell from the official event images how wide the tyre clearance is, but it’s reasonable to expect an upper max in the region of 55mm given this is where most of the latest gravel race bike designs are heading.
As my colleague Simon von Bromley pointed out after his visit to this year’s Traka gravel event, aero gravel bikes with wide tyre clearances are the next big thing, with recent examples from Canyon, Ridley (which we’ve since sampled), Factor and Argon18.
Much like Canyon’s unreleased Grail CFR, though, the new Crux looks to take the same general approach of basing its design around a fast road bike and widening tyre clearance.
The fork shoulders are rounded to accommodate knobbly gravel tyres, although Schreurs opted for a Specialized Pathfinder tyre with a relatively fine tread for the Gralloch.
With a jump in tyre width (the old Crux had space for 47mm tyres), this will likely impact geometry, although it’s unclear by how much given no figures are available.
Despite the clear visual similarity with the Tarmac SL7, it’s almost certain that the new Crux has an increased fork offset to cater for the wider tyres, and to help modify the handling for the demands of gravel racing.
The aerodynamics at the front are clearly influenced by the SL7, with the lack of obvious ‘speed sniffer’ that featured on the Tarmac SL8, and a similar seat tube design to the older race bike.
The bike also features an aero seatpost, which looks similar to the one used on the Tarmac SL8, and an integrated Roval cockpit.
The cockpit looks new. It’s a one-piece setup, with notably compact drops compared to the one currently specced with the Tarmac SL8. The drops also feature a significant flare, which is typically employed to make transitions from the hoods easier while offering more stable steering.
Bear in mind that even the Specialized Roubaix endurance bike doesn’t come with an integrated cockpit yet. But that bike also sports the FutureShock dampening system, while the new Crux does not.
We’ll be sure to bring more news on the new gravel bike as and when we hear about it.
