Did you miss our long form story on the new 2017 Specialized Sequoia adventure gravel road bike? Or perhaps Monday just wasn’t the right day for such prose? Bookmark that one for the weekend (definitely worth a read!) and skim through this post for the quick tech and details overview of their new steel road bike.
Designed to fit in between the carbon fiber Diverge and the all-steel AWOL, the new Sequoia mixes modern lines with quasi-old school geometry to create a bike capable of hitting the trails, or just ripping up long pavement miles in comfort. Three versions are offered, two with a full carbon fork, but all are ready to load up as many bags and bottles as possible and head outta town…
The Sequoia was inspired by the original bikes Jim Merz used to help test Specialized’s early tires. Which was important, because tires are what Specialized started with…they were the beginning of the entire company. And who’s Jim Merz? Glad you asked:
The Sequoia’s frame is made of Premium Chromoly with size specific tubing – meaning, wall thickness and butting is all spec’d according to frame size so that the smallest frame rides the same as the largest frame. Complete bike weight is claimed at 24lb (10.88kg) for a size 56.
UPDATE: Frame weight is claimed at 2.2kg, and the carbon fork is 500g and steel fork is 1,400g.
In addition to fender and rack mounts in all the usual spots, the fork gets two water-bottle-cage-spaced mounting holes on the legs. The front triangle has room for two bottles and their new Burro Burro top-tube bag, plus a third bottle mount on the bottom of the downtube. Smaller frames may have to run a shorty bottle, but it’s still there.
Flat mount brakes let you run 140mm or 160mm rotors. Stealth (read: tooled) thru axles come stock.
The bike comes spec’d with the new Sawtooth tire. It’s a 700×42 with a deeper-than-normal chevron style tread pattern that they say is designed to handle any road surface while still performing on the dirt. In their words:
“The Sawtooth tread offers sharp angles and edges to hook onto any paved and dirt surfaces. The center tread is reinforced from the tread ground up for high puncture resistance and high mileage. Specialized Endurant casing reinforces the sidewall for added protection and high carrying loads. 2BR bead allows for Tubeless setup for good ground adaptability and further improved puncture protection. GRIPTON compound offers reliable grip and control.”
The casing is a supple 120tpi and claimed weight is 615g. Retail is $40, should be available late summer.
To go with them are the new Cruzero wheels. The box section rim profile measures to an internal rim width of 25mm, 30mm external. Spoke length is the same front and rear for ease of repair. The bike comes with 700c wheels, but look for a 650b Cruzero wheel and Sawtooth tire in Spring 2017.
SEQUOIA PRICES & SPECS
The Sequoia Expert will retail for $3,500.
Sequoia Elite is $2,000 (above), and the base model comes in at just $1,300 (below, with chromoly fork rather than carbon).
All will be available in stores in mid August. Geometry and frame sizes are:
Now, don’t forget to read our recap of the ride camp/launch event for more of the backstory, who, why and what behind the Sequoia’s reboot.
