Specialized DSW Sprint goes X2 with new front derailleur compatible frameset

Written by Zach Overholt Feb 19, 2016 9:00 a.m. ET

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Going 1x is so hot right now. But sometimes, front derailleurs are cool too. When Specialized launched their Allez DSW Sprint, they tried something new – a 1x specific road race frame. Built specifically with racing in mind, 1x groups like the SRAM Rival 1 made the concept of a 1x road bike that much more viable. After the initial launch of the x1 models, Specialized is launching a slightly revised version – the X2. It’s everything that made the X1 so desirable, but with the added benefit of being able to shift it into the little ring to limp home after a hard race…

Compared to the original X1 shown above, the X2 frame (top) sees only a slightly reworked seat tube with a front derailleur braze on and an additional internally routed derailleur cable line. Otherwise the frame is the same E5 Premium aluminum which uses their D’Aluisio Smartweld technology with a completely separate Sprint hydroformed tubeset than the Allez DSW. While the frame is built from aluminum for crit-race-durability, the frameset includes an integrated aero carbon seat post and an S-Works FACT carbon fork. Also included is a tapered headset and OSBB with adapter cups.

Available next Monday, the X2 version will initially be available only as a frame only and in the colorway shown at the top. Priced at $1100 for the frame set (same for the X1), pricing has come down from the $1350 when we first reported on the X1. Additional complete builds will be available later this summer with pricing and spec TBD.

specialized.com

Zach Overholt

5,632 articles

Zach Overholt is the Editor in Chief of Bikerumor. He has been writing about what’s new in the bicycle world for 12+ years. Prior to that, Zach spent many years in the back of a bicycle shop building and repairing nearly every type of bike, while figuring out how to (occasionally) ride them.

Based in Ohio, Zach is now slowly introducing a new generation to cycling and still trying to figure out how to fit the most rides into a busy schedule as a new dad.

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26 Comments

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Penguin Dood

8 years ago

Finally a FD mount! I wanted to like this frame when it first came out; however, a $1350 frame that can’t comfortably climb is tough to justify.

“Wait for me guys! My fancy bike wasn’t designed to go uphill!”

Alex

8 years ago

The drop in price is awesome, but I can’t believe that’s the only color option for 2x. I love the look of the polished/black frameset, but been waiting for the 2x version. That frame is just unbelievably ugly to me.

boom

8 years ago

$1100 for an aluminum bike that’s bound to ride like a hatchet with that massive seatpost? Wow, they sure are bold.

Dead

8 years ago

Reply to boom

This is a Crit bike.

boom

8 years ago

Reply to Dead

oh, so it’s a bike that you can only race for ~1 hour in crits? Brilliant.

jlg

8 years ago

Reply to boom

oh, so it’s a bike that you can’t race offroad ? Brilliant.

Eric Hansen

8 years ago

“Going 1x is so hot right now!”

Ehhh. Every single customer who bought a 1x road or cross bike from our store in the past year has already come in and swapped the stock components for Ultegra 2×11. 1x is DOA.

Veganpotter

8 years ago

Reply to Eric Hansen

Not from my shop, and none of my friends/customers from my last shop either.

John

8 years ago

In order get the same overall gear ratios as 2x, the ~20% gaps are too large for 1x to be useful on a normal road bike. At a 90 rpm cadence, that next cog is ~72 rpm. A downshift is ~108 rpm.

And any 1x weight gains are going to be offset by that heavier clutch-based rear derailleur.

Is a front derailleur really that hard to master for people buying bikes at this level, especially considering what they’re giving up in the bargain?

Don’t get me wrong, there are special cases where 1x makes sense (MTB, flat TTs) but a road bike isn’t one of them.

Gummee!

8 years ago

Reply to John

Its not the customers. Its the company not being able to make a ft der that shifts very well

thatoneguy

8 years ago

Reply to Gummee!

I beg to differ. FD’s function just fine. It’s the chainrings that have issues. Ever tried WickWerks? You’ll never go back.

Veganpotter

8 years ago

Reply to John

It’s a crit bike. I’ve used my FD once in a crit…..that was my very first race in 2004, I was also 60 pounds heavier than I am now. It’s a one trick pony, that’s ok

Collin

8 years ago

I don’t think a single person in Michigan’s elite fields in MTB or cross uses a 2x setup. 1x is great in flatter areas. Around here, for road bikes, besides the first and last 5 minutes of every ride, you never actually go to your little ring. However its a pretty hair brain idea to sell a bike without the ability to throw on a FD on it. If its not used, just put a little plate over it like every other MTB.

badbikemechanicx

8 years ago

Reply to Collin

@Collin. That is because Michigan is flat flat flat. I went to college in Michigan and I would love to see Michigan elite’s face off against the elites out here on the east coast race circuit. They would be dropped faster than a….

rizzlemcdizzle

8 years ago

Release something cool. Give is the most disgusting paint scheme out there.
McDonald’s co-branding?
The fuh?

MaraudingWalrus

8 years ago

There clearly are some parts of the world where 1x on the road makes a lot of sense. I happen to live in one of those places. The fact that a product isn’t useful for your market, doesn’t mean it’s useless. I’ve got a CAAD12 that I’ve set up with a single ring running Campagnolo Record; there’s no place I ride here in coastal Florida where I can’t get by with a 50t ring and an 11-28 cassette.

There’s also no place where I need lobster gloves and a fat bike, so does that mean that those products are useless and DOA? No, it just means that I don’t need them.

Tyler Durden

8 years ago

Reply to MaraudingWalrus

At the same time, on the road all you lose is functionality by ditching the small ring. Not so on an MTB where you’ve got cluttered bars, greater propensity for dropped chains, and less need to keep a steady cadence. So “makes a lot of sense” I’m not so sure, maybe more, “doesn’t make much less sense”.

pandaburrJAson

8 years ago

Reply to MaraudingWalrus

Well said.

Tyler

8 years ago

I really dig the paint scheme. I have the original Allez Smartweld and love it.

Big Time

8 years ago

If you need a small ring you’re probably just weak.

Matt

8 years ago

Before anybody here says the jumps are too big on a road 1x cassette, take the time to actually ride it. I’ve moved all the way to a 10-42, and my cadence is only off by 3 rpm at the worst. I love it!

John

8 years ago

Reply to Matt

Get back to us after you ride some real hills with those gaps. LOL

jlg

8 years ago

Reply to John

But what if i don’t have some real hills ?
What doesn’t fit you can fit for others ?

bbb

8 years ago

Come down kids…

Single ,double or triple chainsets are a matter of individual choice dictaded by fitness level (mainly), terrain and riding style.
There’s no right or wrong and in many riding scenarios a single ring makes a perfect sense even on a road bike…
Gears that are used only ocassionaly are really dead weight.

matthew moseley

8 years ago

specialized just lowering manufacturing costs and using marketing as a cover. i dont see a BSA threaded bottom bracket on that bike either. specialized is the Apple of bikes. avoid

Luis Manuel Hernandez

7 years ago

I love Specialized bikes! Well I love all bikes.. lol, but my road bike has to have a FD. I ride hills and I’m not a pro so the little ring up front comes in handy on a regular. I really like this frame but it would have to be white for me! Or maybe black and blue like the 1x !! Shoot anything but that hideous yellow and red !!!!!!!!! Lord have mercy!